Belgium’s Head of State King Filip paid a visit to the Westhoek area of West Flanders on Friday morning. The west of West Flanders has suffered serious flooding in recent days. The Belgian monarch visited the coordination centre set up to deal with the crisis and later visited a farm in the middle of an area that has been flooded.
The situation in the Westhoek area now appears to remain stable. Although the Provincial Governor of West Flanders Carl Decaluwé (Christian democrat) warns all depends on how much additional rain falls during the coming days.
King Filip and the Federal Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden (Flemish Christian democrat), first visited the crisis coordination centre set up at Diksmuide Town Hall. There they received an update on the situation from Governor Decaluwé. They were also given details about the weather forecast for the coming days and were briefed about the measures that are being taken to prevent further flooding.
King Filip then visited the fire station at Diksmuide, where he spoke with firefighters who have been working flat out filling sandbags and raising dikes. On Friday afternoon he will visit the villages of Houthulst and Woumen where he will meet locals whose houses and farms have been flooded.
Also on Friday afternoon, The Flemish Agriculture Minister Jo Brouns and the Flemish Deputy Prime Minister Hilde Crevits (both Christian democrat) will visit two farms in Lo-Reninge and Watou. They will talk to farmers about the support measures that are available from the Flemish Agriculture Department.