More heavy rainfall is expected in several places along the Dutch-Belgian border, where many local residents are already experiencing flooding. Code yellow has been issued, but this could be moved up to orange.
Another rain and thunderstorm zone will enter Belgium on Tuesday from the southeast, the Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI) said. This will be paired with very strong rainfall and fierce thunderstorms in some places.
During the afternoon, the zone will reach areas along the German and Dutch border, which have already been plagued with heavy rain throughout the long weekend.
Code yellow has therefore been issued from 15:00 to 21:00 in the provinces of Limburg, Antwerp and Liège. "Locally fierce thunderstorms may strike with tens of mm of water in one or more hours," the RMI noted. In Antwerp and Limburg, around 20-33 mm of rain is expected in one hour, while locally along the Dutch border this could be as much as 40 mm.
People cleaning the damage after flooding in Voeren. Credit: Belga/ Bruno Fahy
In the most affected provinces, the warning level may therefore be scaled up to orange, but the conditions for this have not yet been met.
The RMI also expects flooding in several areas. "Given the saturation of soils on an extensive scale and the very localised damage to the infrastructure of watercourses in the Liège region, local flooding is possible, even at lower precipitation amounts than this is usually the case," it stated. In other places, less intense showers are expected.
Flooded basements and millions of euros in damage
The municipality of Voeren, which is part of Limburg but is an enclave located inside Walloon territory next to the border with The Netherlands, is among the areas worst affected by the heavy rainfall of the past days. On Friday, even before the heavy rain struck during the weekend, the water level in the local Voer and Berwijn rivers had risen swiftly, causing damages reminiscent of the 2021 flooding disaster.
By Monday, the cost of the damage caused by the massive flooding was estimated to have surpassed €5 million. Water flooded 300 homes, of which 100 were severely affected. More than a dozen people have to seek long-term shelter elsewhere because their homes have become unliveable. In some houses, the water was at chest level.
Flooding in Trooz, in Liege on Saturday 18 May. Credit: Belga/ Bruno Fahy
A fire department arrived to pump the water from some homes, but due to the high groundwater level, some cellars and lower parts remain flooded. Voeren's engineering department has sandbags ready for the heavy rain expected on Tuesday to prevent further flooding.
In Flemish Brabant too, several municipalities were plagued by heavy rainfall. Kortenaken, Rotselaar and Diest are holding their hearts for the rain predicted for the next few hours as the water level is high here, while buffer capacity is limited. Here too, sandbags are being distributed to residents living in the most vulnerable parts.
Several areas in Liège were worst affected before the weekend, and saw water levels return to normal by Sunday. However, here too, the chances of flooding remain high.
