Due to the bad weather that the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium (RMI) is warning of, the Ministry of the Interior is once again activating helpline 1722 for storm and water damage.
The number 1722 is intended for non-life-threatening cases for which the fire brigade must still attend. This way, the emergency line 112 can be reserved for potentially life-threatening situations.
The easiest way to contact 1722 is via the online counter 1722.be. The request is sent directly to the fire brigade. Calling number 1722 is also possible. The call then goes to the operators of the 112 emergency centers. They first handle urgent 112 calls, and only secondarily the calls to 1722. If your fire zone has its own e-desk, you can also go there.
The Interior advises you to wait patiently for the arrival of the fire brigade team and not to contact them again. “The fire brigade looks at each situation on a case-by-case basis and gives priority to those who may be in mortal danger,” it said. “During a storm or flooding, the fire brigade has to handle many requests at the same time and you have to wait a little longer because the fire brigade first has to help people who are in danger of life.”
Heavy showers
It is still temporarily dry on Saturday morning with many clouds. During the morning, an active rain zone reaches the French border and then moves through the country from southwest to northeast. The RMI reports this.
In the afternoon the weather will be changeable with (heavy) showers and some clear spells. A few claps of thunder are not excluded. We reach maximums of 7 degrees in the High Fens to 12 degrees in the west and the center. The wind will be moderate at first and later quite strong or possibly strong here and there. During the course of the day, the gusts increase to values between 60 and locally 80 km/h or possibly a little more during a heavy shower.
During the night from Saturday to Sunday we will usually have heavily cloudy weather with showers or periods of rain. The minimum temperatures are between 6 and 10 degrees with a moderate to fairly strong wind from the south, veering to the southwest.
Sunday will also be heavily cloudy with showers. The clear spells are brief during the day but become wider at the end of the afternoon from the west. The shower activity will therefore decrease somewhat. The maximum temperatures fluctuate between 7 degrees on the High Fens and 11 or 12 degrees in Flanders. The wind from west-southwest remains quite strong inland and strong at sea with gusts of up to 60 or locally 70 km/hour.
Monday will be variable to heavily cloudy with a chance of a few showers at the sea and over the Ardennes. In between, it remains dry in most places. The maximum temperatures fluctuate between 8 or 9 degrees in the Ardennes and 12 or 13 degrees in Flanders.
Tags: Helpline reactivated storm water damage
