The fire brigade and water board are in increased readiness to be able to help immediately if it does flood. That is not expected, however, the spokeswoman said, but at the same time she said it is difficult to provide forecasts.
The fire brigade is ready with sandbags and pumps. “Should it be, then we can act immediately,” she said. “The danger has not yet passed.”
The high water peak also goes towards Meerssen. “It is only when that peak flows into the Maas that the danger has passed. It is difficult to say when that will happen, it is estimated that it could take hours.”
According to Weer.nl, 32 millimeters of rain fell in South Limburg, equivalent to three full buckets of water per square metre. This usually falls in a little over two weeks. The fire service expects the water levels to stabilize after 1 a.m. The large amount of water in the Kleine Geul comes from Belgium, where it rained heavily. Many fields at Epen are under water and several streets have been closed. The cellar of the Wingbergermolen in the village was also flooded. There are sixteen people in the mill who have nowhere to go, because there is water everywhere around the mill. In the night from Sunday to Monday, parts of Epen and Mechelen were affected by flooding. The water was also high at the Brand breweries in Wylre, but the peak has now passed in those places. In many places in the Geul and Gulp catchment, cellars have been flooded and gardens, fields, meadows, roads and parking lots are flooded.
Winberger mill Epen
Paulien Pinckaers, the owner of the Wingbergermolen, was called at 4 pm that the locks of the mill had to open due to the rapidly rising water level of the Kleine Geul. The discharge rate of the water was 20 cubic meters per second, while normally it is only 2 cubic meters per second. At 19.00 Pinckaers asked for sandbags. The water board delivered it around 11.30 pm. According to Pinckaers, the water board could not yet say how things will continue tonight, because many of its measuring points are out. Pinckaers angrily stated that apparently nothing has been learned from the previous flood that hit Limburg.
Valkenburg and Meerssen
“It is currently still coffee grounds to see what the water will do in Valkenburg and Meerssen,” said the spokeswoman. “That depends on how much water the flood plains can absorb. It’s hard to predict that.”
No evacuations are planned at this time. “We hope to keep it that way. That is why the fire brigade is present in large numbers, both to be able to help quickly, but also to provide mental support for the residents.”
Many inhabitants of the Limburg hills hold their breath. They remember the floods of July 2021, which flooded large parts of Valkenburg and Meerssen in particular.
Last summer, the flood in Limburg caused major damage in the Geuldal. Then the normally quiet river Geul flooded, causing enormous havoc in the touristic Valkenburg.
Archive image: the Geul in the center of Valkenburg, months after the flood in 2021.