On Tuesday evening and through the night into Wednesday, heavy and persistent rain caused flooding. The situation was worst in Limburg province, the Flemish Ardennes (East Flanders) and in Walloon Brabant. The site of the Graspop Metal Meeting at Dessel in Antwerp Province is now also drenched after Tuesday’s downpour. The festive gets underway tomorrow Thursday. Both the festival’s car parks and the festival site itself are now soaked.
The heaviest downpours came to an end ataround midnight. However, there still could be flooding near to rivers, streams, ponds and lakes as well as flooding caused by sewer and drainage systems being unable to cope with the sudden large influx of water. In Limburg Province, the emergency services were called to pump out flood water from cellars and the ground floors of houses. The situation was especially bad in the south of the Province in Sint-Truiden, Heers, Tongeren and Borgloon. Further east the fire service was called out several times to deal with flooding issues in Bilzen, Hoeselt and Riemst. In the village of Sint-Martens-Voeren the river Veurs burst its banks. However, no major flooding issues were reported there.
In Walloon Brabant the heavy rainfall kept the emergency services busy in Chastre, Jodoigne, Mont-Saint-Guibert and Walhain. In Walhain, the River Hain burst its banks.
In the village of Michelbeke, in the East Flemish municipality of Brakel, the heavy rain caused a small mudslide that affected several roads in the Berendries area. However, this did not result in any major problems. Elsewhere, two lanes were closed to traffic in the Kennedy Tunnel as they had become impassable due to the heavy rain.
Graspop Metal Meeting
The Graspop Metal Meeting has cancelled today’s pre-festival programme and various fields at the festival site in Dessel (Antwerp Province) that were intended to be used as car parks remain closed. Metal fans are asked to come to festival on public transport, as car parking is not yet available. The 4-day festival proper gets under way tomorrow.