Brussels (Brussels Morning) – More heavy precipitation is expected in several places along the Dutch-Belgian border, where many locals are already experiencing flooding. Code yellow has been administered, but this could be moved up to orange.
Another rain and thunderstorm zone will penetrate Belgium on Tuesday from the southeast, the Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI) stated. This will be paired with very intense rainfall and fierce thunderstorms in some places. During the afternoon, the zone will advance areas along the German and Dutch border, which have already been troubled by heavy rain throughout the long weekend.
What weather warnings are in place for affected Belgian provinces?
Code yellow has therefore been given from 15:00 to 21:00 in the provinces of Limburg, Antwerp and Liège. “Locally fierce thunderstorms may strike with tens of mm of water in one or more hours,” the RMI reported. In Antwerp and Limburg, around 20-33 mm of rain is anticipated in one hour, while locally along the Dutch border this could be as much as 40 mm.
In the most affected provinces, the alert level may therefore be scaled up to orange, but the circumstances for this have not yet been met. The RMI also expects flooding in several areas. “Given the saturation of soils on an extensive scale and the very localised damage to the infrastructure of watercourses in the Liège region, local flooding is possible, even at lower precipitation amounts than this is usually the case,” it said. In other places, less intense showers are expected.
The municipality of Voeren, which is a component of Limburg but is an enclave located inside the Walloon region next to the border with The Netherlands, is among the areas worst impacted by the heavy rainfall of the past days. On Friday, even before the hefty rain struck during the weekend, the water level in the local Voer and Berwijn rivers had increased swiftly, causing impairments reminiscent of the 2021 flooding disaster.
What is the estimated cost of damage from the flooding?
By Monday, the cost of the damage induced by the massive flooding was estimated to have reached €5 million. Water flooded 300 homes, of which 100 were hardly affected. More than a dozen people have to pursue long-term shelter elsewhere because their houses have become unliveable. In some places, the water was at chest level.
A fire department reached out to pump the water from some homes, but due to the high groundwater level, some basements and lower parts remain flooded. Voeren’s engineering department has sandbags prepared for the heavy rain expected on Tuesday to contain further flooding.
Which municipalities in Flemish Brabant are at risk of flooding?
In Flemish Brabant too, several municipalities were afflicted by heavy rainfall. Kortenaken, Rotselaar and Diest are carrying their hearts for the rain predicted for the next few hours as the water level is high here, while buffer capability is limited. Here too, sandbags are being
Allocated to residents living in the most vulnerable parts. Several sites in Liège were worst affected before the weekend and witnessed water levels return to normal by Sunday. However, here too, the chances of flooding remain high.
