As predicted, Storm Louis swept over Belgium bringing buckets of rain, strong gusts of wind and in some cases thunderstorms. The worst is over, but the storm caused significant damage in many places, and in France even took one life.
Early on Thursday, the Royal Meteorological Institute (IRM) already warned for storms and increased the risk level it issued on Wednesday, moving from a yellow warning to orange for wind, including in the Brussels-Capital Region. It was the biggest storm since the start of the year, but it was less intense than Ciaran and Domingos, which caused the deaths of three people and left more than a million homes without electricity in France.
In Brussels, the wind started to pick up between 17:00 and 18:00, followed by a burst of heavy rainfall and strong gusts of wind across the region.
The fire brigade was called out around 50 times because of wind damage and flooding. "The interventions mainly concerned links to the gusts of wind, including 28 interventions for various objects blown about by the wind, such as roof tiles, 18 interventions to cut tree branches that represent a danger or for fallen trees and two interventions for blocked drains," spokesperson Walter Derieuw said.
A tree also fell on the overhead lines of the STIB tramways on Marius Renard Avenue in Anderlecht. Due to the strong winds, parks in the region were closed. Brussels Environment confirmed on Friday morning that Bois de la Cambre will remain closed until further notice.
Impact in Belgium and further afield
As expected, the west and south of Belgium were also heavily hit by the storm. In the south of West Flanders, the Westhoek area fire brigade received about 80 calls. The storm mainly damaged roofs on the Poperinge, Ieper, Zonnebeke, Diksmuide and Kortemark axes. Trees and road signs also had to endure strong winds. In Kortemark, in the centre of the province, some 10 houses were damaged by a possible whirlwind or fall wind.
In the Fluvia intervention zone, some 37 interventions were recorded. The most remarkable call-out was related to part of the scaffolding on a water tower in Menen falling down, with part of it landing on a house. The street was cordoned off due to the incident. It was also called out for branches that had been ripped from trees, barriers lying on the road and garden sheds that blew away. In Oostrozebeke, a bus ended up in the ditch. There were no passengers onboard at the time but the driver did suffer minor injuries.
In the Liège region of Wallonia, the fire brigade recorded more than 130 interventions during Thursday evening and night following the passage of storm Louis. However, no casualties were reported. The firefighters were mainly called out to deal with uprooted trees that had fallen onto the road, electric cables hanging dangerously overhead, and damaged roofs.
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Storm Louis also hit France on Thursday, where it claimed one death. A 52-year-old man reportedly took a road that was blocked off, and was swept away by the wind. He and his car ended up in a river, near the village of Saint-Georges-de-Noisné, in the west of the country. Here, many areas were placed under orange alert for rain and flooding.
Emergency services were unable to rescue the man. The storm also plunged 90,000 homes into darkness as the electricity went out "over a large part of northern France".
