Due to continuous rains, the coastal region of Flanders near the French border has been experiencing heavy flooding and inundation for a week. There are also big problems in France. And the rain is still coming.
The soil in West Flanders is now saturated. Rivers and streams overflowed their banks, and fields and villages were submerged.
The regional disaster plan for West Flanders was announced last week. Firefighters and volunteers make human chains and try to keep the waterways in line with sandbags.
Also big problems in the French section
France is also facing major problems due to excessive rainfall, especially in the Pas-de-Calais region near the border with Belgium. Rivers have burst their banks and code orange will remain in effect until tomorrow. She wrote that schools in all of the province’s 279 municipalities will remain closed until at least Tuesday Le Parisien.
French President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to travel to the region tomorrow with his wife. The Elysee stated that the Head of State will express with her “his support and that of the entire nation for the population affected by successive periods of floods, as well as for all mobilized emergency forces.”
Rain will continue in France until Thursday. The weather is expected to be better starting Friday.
High water levels are becoming more common due to climate change
According to hydraulic engineer Patrick Willems of the Catholic University of Leuven, extreme water levels like those in Belgium have been measured more often in recent years. In the Flemish newspaper Standard The hydraulic engineer predicts they will become more common due to climate change.
As in the Netherlands, there are also calls in Belgium to give water more space across flood zones. Such calls gained urgency after major floods in 2021, when, among other things, the Vesder River burst its banks in Wallonia. 39 people were killed, thousands were displaced and entire municipalities were reduced to chaos.
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