Just two days after Storm Ciarán wreaked havoc in Belgium, the Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI) is once again warning of bad weather which will last throughout the weekend.
The 1722 number for non-emergency fire brigade calls was activated after the RMI issued a yellow alert for rain in the province of Luxembourg on Saturday night. The warning is expected to remain in place until Sunday night.
"A rain zone will pass through the country on Saturday morning and early afternoon. This will be followed by several showers, sometimes intense and possibly accompanied by thunder," the RMI noted.
"It is mainly in the province of Luxembourg that we expect the most precipitation with a cumul of 25 l/m² in 24 hours and a total of 40 l/m² until Sunday evening or locally a little more."
During the day on Saturday, another Atlantic depression is resulting in winds increasing and an active rain zone passing through Belgium from the southwest to the northeast. It will later be followed by unstable air with heavy showers, the RMI noted.
Earlier this week, the north of the country was badly hit by strong winds. Credit: Belga
Gusts increase to values between 60 and locally 80 km/h or possibly a little more if it is raining heavily. During the night, especially over the south, precipitation may still be heavy.
This could cause flooding and water damage in the worst-affected areas. In such cases, the 1722 hotline is activated to prevent emergency numbers from being swamped by calls for assistance that can wait.
In the event of storm damage or water damage requiring fire brigade assistance, this number should be dialled. The FPS Home Affairs also recommends using the electronic hotline 1722.be, considered to be "the most direct way of requesting assistance from the fire brigade in situations where no life is in danger". If a life is in danger, call 112.
