Storm causes flooding, traffic havoc

29 June 2005

BRUSSELS — As heavy storms continued to rage across Belgium on Wednesday, almost 200 calls for assistance were lodged with fire brigade officers in little over an hour.

From 2.45pm onwards, the Vilvoorde fire brigade received 70 calls for assistance by 4pm, 60 calls were lodged with Zaventem authorities and a further 50 in Overijse.

Problems were also reported in Flanders overnight when storms broke across the country as forecast, newspaper ‘Het Nieuwsblad’ reported.

The provinces of Limburg, Brabant and Antwerp took the full brunt of the storms. Lightening-sparked fires were reported at various locations.

Meanwhile, Koningslo was especially hit hard on Wednesday afternoon as several streets and houses flooded. Flooding was also reported in Diegem and the Vilvoorde city centre.

In the Zaventem region, Sterrebeek, Kraainem and part of Wezembeek-Oppem were reporting problems. A large number of houses were flooded, but several roofs were also damaged by lightning. One roof was in danger of collapsing.

The stormy weather was also causing problems in Tervuren in Overijse, where flooding reduced car speeds to walking pace on the Woluwelaan in Sint-Stevens-Woluwe. There were also problems on the Tervurenlaan in Tervuren.

Traffic delays were being reported on the Brussels ring road and the E40 motorway.

Walloon was not spared the storm problems overnight either, with Wallonian Brabant especially hit by the deluge. Blackouts were reported in Verviers and Marche in the Ardennes.

Subject: Belgian news