Part of the roof of the Action collapsed under the violence of a thunderstorm. — © rr
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Due to the thunderstorm and the abundant rainfall that hit some places in Flanders on Thursday evening, the roof of the Action on the Astridlaan in Geraardsbergen collapsed. Miraculously, no one was injured. Elsewhere in Geraardsbergen there was also a lot of nuisance and streets were flooded. Halle’s city center was flooded for the fourth time this summer.
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It was around 6 p.m. that the downpour passed Geraardsbergen pulled and overloaded the roof of the Action. At that point, the last customers had left the store, but staff were still there. They heard the roof construction creak and quickly fled through the emergency exit.
A disaster was so narrowly avoided, because moments later part of the roof effectively collapsed. The water poured into the store, which was flooded in no time. The fire brigade arrived on site to take the necessary safety measures. The electricity was turned off and the roof was propped up. Mayor Guido De Padt came to take a look. Because the cleanup will take a while, the store will certainly remain closed on Friday.
(Read more below the photos)
–The staff of the Action branch still present were able to escape through the emergency exit — © rr
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–© rr
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The fire brigade also had their hands full with several streets that were flooded. This was the case, for example, in the center of Geraardsbergen, the Marktweg, the Astridlaan, the Groteweg and the Hazelstraat. Water covers were pushed away on the corner of Kattestraat and Meersstraat and there was a large puddle of water under the railway tunnel on Zonnebloemstraat.
There were also problems elsewhere in Flanders due to the storm. So fell into it Pajottenland – Dilbeek, Ternat… – a lot of rain. Also Halle was badly hit. The intersection of Basiliekstraat and Monday Market was flooded for the fourth time this summer just after 7 p.m.
In ten minutes, 19 liters of water fell from the sky in some places in Halle. That was enough for a new flood in the heart of Halle, where the force of the water once again pushed the sewer wells up with all the consequences. The same happened on July 5 and 15 and on August 21. The water cleared itself again, but the fire brigade came to clean the streets. “It becomes a reflex: whenever it starts to rain, we rush here hoping to prevent it from getting worse. This is really miserable, even though water baffles do stop water. But now there may well be a solution,” respond some traders.
–© Ingrid Depraetere
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Also in Hainaut
The fire brigade also had their hands full in the Walloon Hainaut. In Aat and Lessen, the fire brigade had already had to intervene about sixty times for flooded cellars and streets. There were no injuries. Meanwhile, the rain has stopped, but the fire brigade is still busy.
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