At least 100 houses were damaged and six people injured by a tornado which struck on the border of Belgium and Luxembourg on Friday. The strong winds of up to 130km/h struck particularly in the commune of Pétange, right on the border.
“In the late afternoon Luxembourg was affected by a tornado,” the specialist weather website NoodweerBenelux announced. “The bad weather passed over the south-west of Luxembourg and caused severe damage in the commune of Pétange. On images we can see rubble flying around, and the damage to houses and cars is enormous. A weather station in the area registered winds gusting to 130km/h.”
The mayor of the commune, Pierre Mellina, estimated that at least 100 houses had suffered damage (photo). Residents had been forced to take refuge in their cellars, and six people reported minor injuries. Roads in and out of the commune were closed by fallen trees.
The Luxembourg railway company CFL said the train link between Luxembourg City and Longwy in France had been interrupted, and work was being carried out to restore rail traffic. In Pétange itself, some streets had their power temporarily cut off as a preventive measure, the fire service said.
The commune of Pétange borders France on one side and Belgium on the other, about 7km from the Belgian town of Aubange. There have been no reports of severe weather damage on the Belgian side of the border. However the Belgian provinces of Liege and Luxembourg were the only places where the Royal Meteorological Institute yesterday maintained its code yellow – a warning for severe bad weather. A previous code yellow covering the rest of the country including Brussels was lifted.
Alan Hope
The Brussels Times
