Heavy rains, accompanied by hailstones, hit Walloon Brabant on Thursday afternoon, causing flooding on several roads and towns in the region. About fifty interventions were underway in the Wavre region shortly before 5.30 p.m. At around 7 p.m., the firefighters at the Wavre and Jodoigne barracks recorded more than 150 interventions related to flooding or road clearing.
“At 4:45 pm it started to get very dark, I even told my colleague that it was going to be dark, then hailstones started to fall. In less than 20 minutes it was a river, tells Denis Van Malderen, employee in a business on the Chaussée de Louvain in Wavre. With the pressure of the water, the manhole covers popped out and I saw a passerby who almost fell into them. With 50 cm of water, he could not see where he was stepping, it can be very dangerous.“
“This afternoon and this evening, the development of intense showers and thunderstorms is confirmed, which may be accompanied by hail and strong gales. The exact location remains difficult to predict but this risk is widespread”, had notified the MRI earlier today.
Under these thunderstorms, heavy precipitation is expected, which can lead to accumulations of 10 to 30 l / m2 in one hour of time. However, a few poorly mobile storm cells could lead to even more marked precipitation, mainly in the west and north of the country (amount of the order of 40 l / m2 or more). This is a borderline situation between the yellow and orange thresholds, which explains the variation in colors between the provinces (which could still change).
Thus, the orange threshold is valid for West Flanders, East Flanders, Antwerp, Limburg, Flemish Brabant, Brussels and Walloon Brabant, warns the meteorological center.
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