BRUSSELS – Belgians were being warned to stay at home if at all possible on Monday afternoon and evening following a major storm warning from the country’s national weather office.

The Institut Royal de Météorologie (IRM) warned of high winds with gusts of up to 120 kilometres an hour accompanied by extremely heavy rain.

In response, the Belgian government’s  ‘Crisis Centre’ has called on people to stay indoors and not carry out any work outside. The Centre also suggested people fix down any objects that could “come loose and be transformed into projectiles,” during the storm.

Motorists are being advised to reduce their speed, not to drive through heavily wooded areas and not to park under trees.

As a precaution, several roads out of Brussels through the Fôret de Soignes have been closed, as have roads in similarly wooded areas elsewhere in the country.

[Copyright Expatica News 2003]

Subject: Belgian news