“I literally saw the tornado coming towards our house”
These are the Lannoye family, who live at number 49 on the street. The family of five has yet to recover from the shock. The mother bears the moral aftereffects on her tense face, but her daughter Giula, 16, takes her courage in both hands. “I was upstairs, she says, when I saw the tornado literally coming towards our house. This is, believe me, a very stressful time.”
She then makes the right decision and takes refuge, with her sister Helena, 15, on the opposite side of the house. However, the noise is enough to paralyze you, because the roof is literally flying away. “It only lasted thirty seconds, term Giula, but that half minute, we will not forget.”
The damage was considerable at the Lafalize farm, at 37 rue. Hugo Lafalize and his brother Louis are the owners. “The farm has become a storage warehouse, explains Hugo, 21, farmer in L’Ecluse. Here, four hangars and four silos are rented to different trades. The damage? They are colossal. This morning, an expert and an insurer came by. All I have to do is wait for their evaluation.”
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He is not the only one in this situation. Valentin Devos, 30, stores hay and straw on the farm. “Half will go in the trash, he laments. But I still have a little pride. The roof I was installing on a small part of the farm held up. It’s a consolation.”
Another bitter observation, that of Thierry Thillaye, 66 years old, living in La Bruyère. He stores a screw shop on the farm. “Cartons and labels are lost, he regrets. It will take me weeks of work to replace them, but I’m not complaining. Some lost their homes. It’s definitely more dramatic.”
