“There will also be a risk of strong gusts and hail during thunderstorms, which will be greater along the German-Luxembourg border,” says the Institute of Meteorology.
“Under the most intense storm cells, there will be a risk of runoff, saturation of the drainage network, mudslides, or even overflowing of small watercourses,” announces the SPW on its site.
The Dendre on pre-alert, the Ath region affected by mudslides
And the first consequences of this rain did not take long to arrive: the Ath region was affected by mudslides and floods, a Walloon river is on pre-flood alert.
Indeed, at precisely 3:23 p.m., the Dendre was placed on pre-alert: “The pre-alert thresholds (localized overflows without seriousness) could be reached this Tuesday late afternoon on the Dendre Ouest”.
Other rivers could be affected in the coming hours.
A couple relocated after a flood, the Mouscron tunnel under water
The dispatching of the Wapi emergency zone recorded around fifty interventions by the emergency services.
”In the Ath region, the city bypass was inaccessible for a while. In Ath, a couple had to be relocated after their house was flooded. In this same entity, mudslides affected the villages of Rebaix, Ostiches and Mainvault. The villages of Wiers (Péruwelz), Willaupuis (Leuze) and Blaton (Bernissart) were also affected. In Mouscron, the express road tunnel (Dottignies-Mouscron), which was underwater, had to be closed,” indicates dispatch.
40 liters in less than two hours in Courcelles
Farid, our Mr. Weather, takes stock of the situation at 6 p.m.: “We are slowly coming to the end of this very complicated afternoon. The most active zone now extends along the Sambre and Meuse line and in particular on a Binche-Courcelles-Gembloux-Liège line. Abundant precipitation and 40 liters in less than two hours at the Courcelles station! The Lint station in the province of Antwerp reaches 60 liters while we average between 5 and 20 liters in the Mons region (provisional)”.
”The most active package will slide over the next few hours into the provinces of Namur, Liège and Luxembourg, sparing Gaume a little. A clap of thunder will not be excluded and it will be drier while the rains will be more scattered to the west of a Charleroi-Brussels line after 7-8 p.m.,” adds our meteorologist.
gullAbundant precipitation and 40 liters in less than two hours at the Courcelles station!
Walloon Brabant shaken in various places
The rain which has been falling on the country since late Tuesday morning increased in intensity at the end of the day, causing problems in various places in Walloon Brabant.
Around 7:30 p.m., the situation was difficult in Hévillers and Corbais. In Hévillers, the level of the Orne became problematic following runoff water coming from the Walhain and Chastre watersheds. “In addition, the sewers are saturated. We are on alert”, indicated Mayor Julien Breuer, present on the ground with municipal teams. In Corbais, the waters coming from Corroy and the Nil were swelling.
The town of Binche particularly affected
While most municipalities seem generally spared in the region, Binche cannot say the same. There have been many interventions there lately. “For a little over 30 minutes, there have been numerous calls in Binche. Fortunately, there is no wind so the trees do not appear threatening. We therefore mainly intervene for flooded roads or drains which no longer do their job. It is not uncommon to find 50 centimeters of water on certain roads”, indicates Benoît Filippi from the Hainaut-Centre emergency zone.
Bad weather on Tuesday caused flooding in the village of Avernas-le-Bauduin. On alert to help the residents, neither the firefighters of the Hesbaye emergency zone nor the mayor have currently been able to provide us with information on the state of the premises.
Firefighters and police had to go to the scene to secure the scene. The road and part of the sidewalk gradually fall into a hole, which gets bigger and bigger due to the heavy downpours.
And in Flanders? The province of Antwerp affected, the alert threshold exceeded in two places
Heavy rain caused inconvenience in the Antwerp towns of Liet and Lint. Firefighters were called to flooded streets and cellars, as well as overturned manhole covers.
The authorities in Lier have called on residents to temporarily limit their travel to what is strictly necessary. Several streets were also closed to traffic.
In total, the Rivierenland emergency zone (which covers 18 municipalities in the province) received around a hundred calls.
The alert threshold exceeded in two places in the Flemish Ardennes
The alert threshold of two rivers was exceeded in the towns of Grammont and Zwalm, in East Flanders. Several other places in the Flemish Ardennes were also affected by the floods, indicate the Flemish Environment Agency and the emergency services.
Firefighters in the Flemish Ardennes area received around thirty calls for flooding in the areas around Zottegem and Brakel, among others. These were mainly flooded streets or mudslides, as in the center of the municipality of Michelbeke in Brakel.
“On the Brakel-Aalst-Lier-Turnhout axis, rainfall of up to 45 millimeters has already been recorded locally. On several non-navigable waterways, retention basins are being put into operation to prevent critical flooding,” reports l Flemish Environment Agency on the Waterinfo website.
Around 6 p.m., the alert thresholds of the Mark, in Viane in the Dendre basin and of Zwalmbeek, in Zwalm in the Haut Escaut basin were exceeded. “On the Dendre, a peak flow of 35 to 40 cubic meters per second is expected at Overboelare by tonight. The pre-wake thresholds being exceeded downstream from Grammont to Denderleeuw. The alert thresholds could also be slightly exceeded in Idegem and Pollare”, declares the Flemish Environment Agency. No critical flooding threatening homes is expected at this time along non-navigable watercourses.
