At Walhain, around 10 p.m., Le Hain got out of bed in the center of the town.“Two roads are closed”the mayor tells us. “The level is falling again in the center of Walhain. The works department is circulating to distribute sandbags and monitor developments in the situation.”
The rest of the day
Emergency services were in heavy demand on Wednesday afternoon in Picardy Wallonia, following torrential rains which caused flooding and mudslides. According to reports, some areas received up to 50 liters per square meter of rain, causing critical situations.
For example, in the Ath region, the road has completely disappeared to make way for a torrent. This region nestled in Hainaut was particularly impacted. More generally, it was Picardy Wallonia which suffered the heaviest rainfall. According to Notélé, a local television station, secondary roads were flooded, but also more important streets such as the Ath bypass which was closed.
According to the Wallonia Picardy Emergency Zone, national 7 is being pumped. Around a hundred interventions have taken place since the start of the day. In view of the latest announcements, emergency services estimate that the situation is likely to get worse between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Inaccessible routes and closed tunnels in Wallonia
“The first calls were recorded shortly after 12:00 p.m. for mudslides, roads under water and flooded cellars following the heavy rains which fell late in the morning in certain regions of western Hainaut. Some towns, including Tournai, were relatively unaffected by this rain. Of course, it rained, but nothing more“, indicated the dispatching of the Wapi emergency zone around 3:00 p.m.
“This is not the case in other cities and towns. In the Ath region, the city bypass was inaccessible for a while. In Ath, a couple had to be rehoused following the flooding of their house. 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 under water, had to be closed“, indicates the Wapi dispatching.
The water was coming up through the sewers. It’s hellish.
Around 3:00 p.m., the most important interventions were finished. No injuries were reported in the Wapi area. “However, significant precipitation is still expected at the end of the afternoon.“, further specifies the dispatching.
William, a resident of the region, shares his observation: “It happened over 20 minutes, but it fell at a rate… We were at a bottom, so we were submerged, the water was coming up through the sewers. It’s hellish.”
In Leuze-en-Hainaut, Ath and Péruwelz, several roads found themselves under water in a short time. Around 30 to 40 liters of rain per square meter fell in some places.
Walloon Brabant also affected
The heavy rains that fell on Tuesday afternoon in Walloon Brabant caused flooding in Chastre, Jodoigne and Mont-Saint-Guibert, as well as the overflow of the Hain in Walhain, we learned from the Brabant relief zone Walloon.
Walloon Brabant firefighters have been mobilized since late Tuesday afternoon due to bad weather. It is mainly flooding of roads invaded by downpours or mud which keeps the sappers busy, mainly in the entities of Chastre, Jodoigne and Mont-Saint-Guibert. In Walhain, the river (Hain) has burst its banks at rue de la Culée.
Water invaded some roads and property yards, but I have not heard that any houses were actually flooded
“We are far from the situation of May 12 and the showers now seem to be fading. Water invaded some roads and property yards, but I have not heard that any houses were actually flooded“, explained Tuesday evening the mayor Xavier Dubois to the Belga agency.
Floods in Lierre and Lint, in the province of Antwerp
The rain causes flooding in Lierre and Lint, in the province of Antwerp. Heavy rain caused inconvenience on Tuesday in the Antwerp towns of Lierre and Lint. Firefighters were called to flooded streets and cellars, as well as overturned manhole covers.
The authorities of 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 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, precipitation reaching 45 millimeters has already been recorded locally. On several non-navigable rivers, retention basins are put into service to avoid critical flooding“, reports the Flemish Environment Agency on the Waterinfo website.
On several non-navigable rivers, retention basins are put into service to avoid critical flooding
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“, says the Flemish Environment Agency. No critical flooding threatening homes is currently expected along non-navigable watercourses.
