There was a pretty scary wait for many residents of the municipality of Voeren (Limburg) last night as the remnants of hurricane Kirk passed across Belgium. Fortunately this time it was not as bad as expected and there was no flooding. In the village of ‘s Gravenvoeren (Voeren) the level of River Voer did not cause too much concern and in Moelingen (Voeren) the River Berwijn stayed just below the alert level. In the meantime the water level has fallen back.
Last night the weather forecasts did not bode well for Voeren with flooding feared once again. But in the event, things turned out better than expected this time and the levels of both the River Voer and the River Berwijn remained below the alert level and there was no flooding.
Mayor Joris Gaens: ‘The fire brigade remained on standby all night. Water levels reached their peak between 2 and 3AM and since then levels have again been dropping. So it looks good: there hasn’t been any flooding and for the next few hours too, we can say that there will not be any.’
Plenty of special measures were in place yesterday: temporary dykes were erected at critical locations and residents could come and fill sandbags. Mayor Joris Gaens: ‘These temporary dykes certainly served their purpose, because the level of the River Berwijn was very high. The widening of the river has now also proved its purpose.’
A score of calls to the fire service
Last night, fire services across southern and eastern Limburg received some 20 calls regarding flooded cellars and streets in Bilzen, Riemst, Tongeren and Sint-Truiden. The flood basins in Tongeren also quickly filled up.