The first of two coaches provided by the Flemish motorists' association VAB to bring home holidaymakers whose vehicles were damaged in a storm in Italy earlier this week has arrived back in Belgium. Hailstones the size of tennis balls seriously damaged many vehicles making it impossible for the Belgians to return home. A second coach will arrive from Italy on Friday evening.
First bus with Belgian tourists whose cars were badly damaged by hail in northern Italy arrives in Belgium
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This week’s storm in northern Italy caused a lot of damage in the area around Lake Garda at the beginning of this week. Thousands of cars were damaged, including those of some of the tourists that flock to the region at this time of year. Such was the extent of the damage to their vehicles that they were unable to return home in their cars.
VAB’s emergency call centre has been inundated with requests for help in recent days. Under normal circumstances, VAB members are entitled to have their vehicle repaired quickly while they are abroad. However, due to the magnitude of the damage caused by storm the storm this has not not always been feasible.
Several garage owners in the area around Lake Garda had indicated that waiting times for the repair and delivery of new car windows are around 4 weeks. Furthermore, some cars have been so badly damaged that they will be written off.
Replacement vehicles are in very short supply, and many were also damaged in the storm. VAB says that it has received a total of 234 requests for assistance from members whose vehicles suffered storm damage in the Lake Garda region. The first of the damaged cars will be returned to Belgium during the middle of next week.