Supercell, severe weather destroys 100 hectares of Dutch glasshouses

A supercell thunderstorm destroyed at least 100 hectares of greenhouses in the province of North Brabant in the South of Holland last night. The total damage is estimated to be millions of euro's. "Most of the companies are forced to stop their crop", said bell pepper grower Wim van den Boomen.

Hail as big as baseballs crashed onto homes, cars, fruit trees and greenhouses last night. Not only bell pepper grower Wim van den Boomen's greenhouse was destroyed, also many other ones in the area. "Many growers have severe damage, at most of the companies the crop will be taken out."

Amongst the stricken companies are Greenco, known for the Tommies brand of snacking tomatoes, and Pieter van Gog's cucumbers and strawberry greenhouse operations. Local newspapers informed that 20 of his 28 hectare greenhouse is heavily damaged. "Totally destroyed. Everything is broken."

Earlier on Thursday, heavy rainfall caused severe damage at this greenhouse in Holand; a total of six trellis could not carry the heavy weight of the huge amount of rain that came down in a very short time. Pictures : Kasreparatie.nl

Pictures : Kasreparatie.nl

Earlier this week, other Belgian and Dutch growers were struck by heavy rainfall too; Parking lots flooded and greenhouses were damaged. Hopefully this has been one of the last storms of the season for them...

Publication date: Fri 24 Jun 2016