Amsterdam hospital evacuated due to flooding

The VU Medical Center (VUmc) in Amsterdam had to be completely evacuated on Tuesday due to flooding caused by a leak in a water pipe.

Around 4 p.m. the evacuation was started with heart patients and babies.

According to a latest update by the VUmc, 49 of the total of 339 patients were at 10.20 p.m. still in the hospital. Some of the patients were discharged and went home with their families. The evacuation will take until late on Tuesday night.

During working activities a break in the main water pipe led to an immediate major flooding of the streets in the south part of Amsterdam on Tuesday morning. The leak was closed, but the damage was already done. In the VUmc the bottom floor flooded and power partly fell off.

The flooding damaged crucial infrastructural components of the hospital, with steam, hot water and heating not being stable. The morgue in the basement also flooded. The hospital tried to turn the emergency generators on, but that did not help.

"Our patients have not been in danger during the flooding," the VUmc emphasized in a statement.

According to the VUmc all basic services performed, but it was unclear how long that would remain the case. Therefore, the hospital decided to switch to an emergency plan and to bring all patients to other hospitals in Amsterdam, Alkmaar, Leiden and Utrecht.

"The evacuation will happen in phases and the assessment of the patients will be done by our doctors," the VUmc added on its website. "With great care we consider where a patient would get the best care."

It is not clear when the patients can return at the VUmc. All appointments in the outpatients clinic for Tuesday and Wednesday have been cancelled, with exception of the radiotherapy department and the IVF center. Endit