Funeral forced to decamp due to dangerous weather vane
Mourners that were due to attend a funeral at a church in Oetingen, near Gooik in Flemish Brabant have been told that the service could not take place there. The reason that the funeral was unable to be held at the church is that a weather vane at the top of the spire became loose during last weekend’s storm and there was a real risk that it might fall injuring anyone it might fall on.
The local council didn’t want anyone to be put at risk and the funeral had to be held in the local church hall.
The Mayor of Gooik Michel Doomst (Christian democrat) told VRT News that “Strom Ciara probably blew the weather vane over. We asked the Fire Service to take the vane away, but their ladder wasn’t long enough. A specialised firm came to do the work this morning”.
The municipal authorities put a fence up around the church to prevent anyone being injured if the weather vane fell down.
“We don’t think that the weather vane will fall down, but we’d rather not take any risks. To be on the safe side the funeral service that was planned for today will take place in the church hall. This was decided after we spoke to the family”.
The company called into to remove the weather vane was forced to saw it in two in order to bring it down. The vane that weighs 100 kilos will be welded back together before it is put back into place.
