West Flanders has been struggling with severe flooding for days. VTM NEWS reporter Klaas Danneel, who was on site today, heard from Governor Carl Decaluwé that “never before have so many streets and meadows been flooded in West Flanders”. Danneel also noted that the flooded Westhoek attracted a surprising number of tourists. “A lot of people and a lot of cars, which had difficulty crossing, which caused traffic jams. While the governor had called for people to stay away.”
Since this morning, the water in the streets has risen slightly, Danneel said earlier in the day from Stavele, a sub-municipality of Alveringem. The level was highest there around 1 p.m., but after that the water gradually dropped. “The water is up to the houses, but sandbags prevent it from flowing in,” he said this afternoon. But in the end, fortunately, the water did not enter the houses.
In the area around Stavele, Poperinge and Roesbrugge, the greatest danger had passed this afternoon. “But although it has been dry here for more than eighteen hours, the level downstream, in Lo-Reninge, is still rising,” Danneel noted. A resident in the city was also evacuated last night after water entered his home.
In other places the water was still high this afternoon. This was the case, among other things, on the IJzer in Woumen near Diksmuide, where several homes and farms were in danger of being flooded. There was also still flooding in the Leie basin, including near Ledegem and Moorsele. “The governor told me that never before have so many meadows and streets been flooded in West Flanders,” Danneel concluded.
Tonight the anxiety had largely subsided. The water has now receded almost everywhere, but this was not the case in Lo-Reninge tonight. That is not expected there until tonight.
LOOK. “Never before as much water as now,” Klaas Danneel notes
Also read:
‘Islander’ Geert (56) evacuated after all: “Water came through tiles on the ground” (+)
Fire brigade protects four homes in Stavele against rising water: “We were shocked when we woke up this morning” (+)
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