Heavy rain floods streets in Limburg: rain expected all night (Beringen)

The thunderstorm that entered our province on Thursday around 7 p.m. did not cause the extreme rainfall of tens of liters in an hour, but the persistent heavy rain did cause flooded streets again.

In Maasmechelen, the intersection of the Rijksweg with Ringlaan and Rodenbachlaan at the traffic lights was flooded. The right lane was completely flooded. Traffic had to move at a walking pace.

The Blindestraat in Beverst (Bilzen) was also flooded again. This is a well-known place during heavy rain. The pipes cannot swallow the water.

The busy intersection in Diepenbeek of the N76 (Genk-Kortessem) and the N2 (Bilzen-Diepenbeek) was completely flooded.

In Genk it was the Stalenstraat that was flooded. There were several calls from Genk to pump. “Most calls came from Bilzen, Genk, Lanaken and Zutendaal,” says spokeswoman Karen De Smedt of the East Limburg emergency zone. “In total we received more than seventy calls for flooding. Most calls came in after 9 p.m.

Lightning strikes

The South-West Limburg emergency response zone was active in six places on Thursday evening. “Lightning struck in Diepenbeek and Hasselt. The affected houses only had electricity damage,” said spokeswoman Gretel Kerkhofs. In Diepenbeek, a student room in Peperstraat suffered from water seepage. This may have come in through the roof. A house also had water in Paal in Veldstraat. Pumping also took place in streets in Diepenbeek and Greater Hasselt.

In the North Limburg emergency response zone, only two emergency calls were received for flooding.

Lanaken

In Lanaken, 65 liters per square meter fell in half an hour. “That was around 7:30 p.m. and that’s a lot of water. The preliminary balance is that about ten cellars were flooded and several streets were flooded,” says Mayor Marino Keulen of Lanaken. In Strodorp in Veldwezelt, the water also dragged the mud from the fields into the streets.

Lanaken and its sub-municipalities were severely affected. “Our street is completely flooded,” says Jules from Eikelenweg. “That’s not the first time. Some residents have a garage with a sloping entrance. They may have water in the basement again. Some water seeps in, but it’s not too bad.”

According to the mayor, many residents have secured their property with sandbags and prevented worse. “Wadis (shallow holes in which water can collect) and well-maintained sewage pipes kept things from getting worse. It also helped that the intensity of the heavy rain decreased after half an hour,” says Marino Keulen.

Prediction

Weatherman Ruben Weytjens reports on his Facebook that up to 30 liters will fall due to the persistent rain on Thursday evening. He spent hours on the weather maps, updates and radars to keep the many Limburg followers on his Facebook page up to date. He was able to report fairly quickly that the storm activity was decreasing. He does predict rain all night long.