Friday afternoon's violent storms kept Belgium's fire services busy during the night, with Hemeco, Hesbaye, and Vesdre-Hoegne/Plateau among the worst hit.
Hemeco
The fire brigade of the Hemeco rescue zone was in great demand due to the violent storms, with more than 220 interventions recorded by the end of the afternoon on Saturday.
The bad weather was mainly concentrated in Huy, Amay and Villers-le-Bouillet. The fire brigade responded to flooded cellars, flooded roads and damaged roofs.
In Amay, the rainfall prompted the works department and many volunteers to fill more than 15 tonnes of sand into bags to prevent water from entering homes as high as possible, as mayor Jean-Michel Javaux said.
"The teams worked with the fire brigade until 2:30 AM and resumed this morning at 6:00 AM, with six pumps to help with the draining. This solidarity between neighbours and friends experienced last night and last night in the most affected streets warms our hearts," he added.
The municipality of Villers-le-Bouillet was also affected by the storms, with mudslides in several villages.
In Huy, the fire brigade was called to help a person who had fallen into the Hoyoux.
The municipal and emergency services were all mobilised on Saturday to clean up the roads and help the affected homes. They will continue to do so for several days and the clean-up will continue.
Hesbaye
In the Hesbaye area, the emergency services were mainly involved in cleaning up the roads in Faimes on Friday evening.
In the Hesbaye area, the first responders went into action to clean up roads in the commune of Faimes, which was particularly affected by the torrential rain.
Vesdre-Hoëgne/Plateau
The fire service conducted about 20 operations in Vesdre-Hoëgne and Plateau, mostly in the commune of Spa. About ten firefighters and five vehicles were mobilized.
The Brussels Times
