Five injured as tent is swept away at Docks
A gale swept across Belgium from the south-west to the north-east yesterday evening. Rain, wind and hail were our lot. Five people were injured when a tent was blown away In Brussels.
West Flanders and Hainaut Province were first to feel the full intensity of the storm. In West Flanders hailstones with a diameter of two centimetres were recorded. In the village of Zillebeke (Ieper) streets were flooded.
The storm then passed over Flemish Brabant, Antwerp and Limburg.
In Brussels five people were injured when a tent on the roof of the Docks shopping centre was blown away. Two people needed hospital care. Brussels firefighters received countless calls for assistance in dealing with fallen trees.
In Nijlen (Antwerp) a house was hit by lightning. The chimney collapsed leaving a big hole in the roof. A tornado hit Laakdal (Antwerp).
In Limburg rail traffic was hampered by fallen trees.
The rail track company spent the night clearing fallen trees off the tracks, carrying out checks and repairs. This morning rail traffic between Mol and Balen and Bilzen and Tongeren was still disrupted.
Yesterday’s storm came on the anniversary of a dreadful storm in 1839 when 74 people died in flooding in the Vilvoorde area.