Severe thunderstorms hit Belgium with 17 injured & 92 homes severely damaged by small tornado
Severe damage caused to home after severe thunderstorms and a tornado hits Belgium
Europe Weather News
Heavy downpours triggered floods in parts of Flanders last night. In Wallonia, strong gusts of wind caused a lot of damage in the municipality of Beauraing, where there are reports of 17 injured people. Beauraing is talking of a "mini-tornado". As many as 92 houses were severely damaged, 10 have been declared unfit for habitation. Over a dozen cars were damaged.
Beauraing, a town in Namur province, was hardest hit. The local disaster plan was started after what local authorities are labelling as "a small tornado". 17 people sustained light injuries and some 90 homes were heavily damaged, Beauraing announced in a press report. The local cultural centre offers shelter for those that sustained damage.
The National Transportation Safety Board is launching an investigation into the crash, and an investigator is expected to be at the pileup location on Sunday night, said NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway. Ten NTSB investigators will coordinate with the Alabama Highway Patrol.
Tallapoosa County Girls Ranch, located south of Montgomery, confirmed that one of its vehicles was involved in the crash. The program is part of the Alabama Sheriffs Youth Ranches, a Christian nonprofit that provides homes for needy, neglected or abused school-age children.
Several people got injured when an outdoor construction at a café terrace was swept away by a gust of wind. "The wind was incredibly strong. Houses and cars got damaged, trees were uprooted", Beauraing Mayor Marc Lejeune told the Francophone public broadcaster RTBF.
The VRT's weather presenter Frank Deboosere thinks this phenomenon can be either a local tornado or a strong downwind, triggered by the enormous downpour that created a downward air movement.
In Rochefort, not far from Beauraing, a dozen houses and also one church lost their roof due to heavy winds. In Saint-Servais, near Namur city centre, a house was set ablaze when it was struck by lightning.
Hainaut province had various reports of floods, around Péruwelz, Leuze-en-Hainaut and Lessines. Fire services made about 40 interventions, but nobody got injured.
The local thunderstorms also caused damage in East Flanders, in the Oosterzele, Wetteren and Aalst region. Fire services got about 90 calls to intervene, often because cellars had got inundated.