Several municipalities in Flanders, including Londerzeel (Flemish Brabant) and Buggenhout (East Flanders) suffered flooding due to heavy rain on Sunday. The Royal Meteorological Institute had (KMI) issued a Code Yellow weather warning for heavy rain and thunderstorms in Flemish Brabant and Brussels.
KMI had forecast that as much as 20 l/m² of rain could fall at some locations with more than 25l/m² forecast within 24 hours. As predicted Flemish Brabant bore the burnt of the downpours. Leuven, Meise, Londerzeel and the neighbouring East Flemish municipality of Buggenhout were particularly badly hit but the heavy rain. Some streets were submerged, but thankfully damage to property remained minimal.
Marc Vranckx of the Leuven Local Police Service told journalists that Sunday’s storm only caused minimal damage in the city. Some of the city’s traffic lights were out of order for a short time. However, this didn’t result in any accidents or delays to traffic. A few cellars were also flooded both in the centre of Leuven and in the Leuven suburb of Kessel-Lo.
Elsewhere, there was flooding in Mollem, in the Flemish Brabant municipality of Asse and in Heers, in the south of Limburg Province, where the sewers were unable to cope with the heavy rain. In the Landen, in the east of Flemish Brabant, numerous streets were covered with mud.