An active thunderstorm caused a lot of nuisance in various parts of the country last night. The storm passed over the country with heavy rain, large hailstones and many flashes of light. A total of 26,006 lightning strikes were recorded. The storm caused some damage, especially in South-West Flanders and at the Graspop festival campsites in Dessel (Kempen).
Regional journalist at HLN
Anyone who woke up last night will certainly have noticed: there were an exceptional amount of lightning to be seen. According to weatherman David Dehenauw, during the passage of the front, a total of 12,195 lightning strikes were counted in Flanders, 13,758 in Wallonia and 53 in Brussels.
The storm was the first to break out on Saturday night West Flanders. In Dadizele, a sub-municipality of Moorslede, the damage was locally very heavy due to an intense shower with hailstones up to 4 centimeters in size. The hail damaged several parked cars: “I wonder how something like this is repaired. Knock out those holes everywhere? Or immediately replace the entire bodywork?” responds Linde from Dadizele.
Neighboring Izegem also received enormous amounts of rainfall in a short time.
Also in Waregem it turned again. There, Stormestraat in the center was completely flooded, with water flowing into several shops.
In East Flanders the storm also caused major damage. In the Ouburg in Oudegem (Dendermonde), lightning struck the roof of a house around 1 a.m., causing a fire. The family present and the neighborhood were awakened by a loud bang, after which the residents were able to leave the house on time and unharmed.
Also East Flemish Zulte was not spared. Due to the heavy rainfall, several streets were flooded in no time.
The thunderstorm zone then moved further across the province Antwerpwhere very intense lightning activity was observed in Willebroek, among other places. The festival goers of Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel also had a hard time: a local cloudburst completely flooded the ‘Inferno’ campsite there last night.
In Gierle near Lille, the thunderstorm produced a spectacular lightning photo. The lightning came from all sides at once. What a moment. I’m still shaking about it,” says Bart Medaer.
In Flemish Brabant the storm cell subsequently passed over the region around Aarschot and Scherpenheuvel. There too, the thunderstorm was accompanied by a fierce and almost constant succession of lightning flashes, although no major material damage occurred.
Then the storm continued its path Limburgwhere the wind was blowing heavily locally. Especially in Henis near Tongeren-Borgloon, a strong gust of wind created a remarkable scene: a party tent was blown up to 3 meters into the air by a sudden gust of wind, eventually landing close to a parked car. Elsewhere in the province there were bright light shows and downpours. In Houthalen-Oost, Alken and around the Paalse Plas in Tessenderlo, the heavens opened completely, while residents from Pelt and Maaseik saw the sky light up every few seconds by bright, constant lightning discharges.
