Flood disaster in Belgium: danger underestimated, warned too late?


Status: 07/19/2021 4:10 p.m.

In Belgium, too, the extent of the unprecedented flooding is becoming increasingly evident. It’s still mainly about tidying up and helping. But there is also louder and louder discussion as to whether the storm situation has been underestimated.

By Holger Beckmann,
ARD studio Brussels

More than 120 cities, towns and villages in Belgium – hit by masses of water the likes of which have never been seen falling over houses and streets in such a large amount and in such a short time. That’s what they say there, in the south and south-east of the country, in the Ardennes or on the edge of the High Fens. Actually, these are idyllic low mountain ranges. They are located in the Belgian provinces of Liège, Namur and Luxembourg, which are crossed by hundreds of small and somewhat larger rivers. These watercourses have always led to floods from time to time, one was used to it. But there had never been such raging tidal waves before.

And that is why one question is now being asked louder and louder in Wallonia: Could residents have been warned too late? So could lives have been saved if the authorities had been more vigilant?

Pictures like after a war

Something like an answer can currently be found in the 10,000-inhabitant town of Pepinster, only 40 kilometers away from the border with Germany. It is located in a valley where two tributaries of the Meuse meet. On the banks of the river, the buildings now look like after a war. The water has carved miles of destruction. Annelies Verlinden, the interior minister of the Belgian central government, visited the place and then said: Only when you have seen it all with your own eyes can you get an idea of ​​the extent of the destruction.

And it is the mayor of Pepinster, Philippe Goudin, who admits: In the Belgian crisis center there may have actually been a misjudgment before the floods and the extremely rapidly rising river levels. It was believed that the floods would remain manageable. And then at some point it was too late.

In Belgium, too, it will be necessary to carefully examine whether public warning systems have failed and what lessons can be learned for future disasters.

The focus so far: clean-up work

Politically, however, this is not yet being seriously discussed at the moment. Rather, the focus is now on the clean-up work and, above all, the search for those who are still missing. Their number is now given as around 150. Most of them are likely to be people who have simply not yet reported to the authorities due to the still poor telephone connections in the disaster region.

Nevertheless, according to official sources, the death toll may rise in the next few hours and days. So far there have been 36 deaths.

In some areas only army trucks get through – the water has expanded that high and so far.

Image: AFP

Helpers on the verge of their strength

In the meantime, there is no longer any search for survivors in the rubble, because there is little hope of finding any now. And the disaster area is large, about twice the size of the Saarland. Bart Reyemaekers, the head of the Belgian crisis center, has to fight back tears several times today in a press conference and finally break off his remarks – the horror of what happened, what victims and helpers had to experience is difficult to put into words.

What is urgently needed: emergency accommodation for all those who have lost their roof over their heads because houses and apartments were simply washed away by the floods or because they are now in danger of collapsing. We are talking about thousands who are now without a place to stay, in front of the ruins of their material existence.

Appeals to the insurance companies

And so far, the question of who should pay for this damage, which is likely to run into the three-digit million range, has not yet been clarified. It is true that financial help should also be provided quickly and as uncomplicated as possible, but there have not yet been any specific commitments. Instead, the governments in the affected provinces appealed to the insurance industry to at least provide swift transitional aid.

The insurers have indicated their general willingness to do so, but in the end that alone will not be enough by far. So in Belgium, too, there is talk of state support and how it can get to the people affected.

With all this, it is possible that this catastrophe will bring the often divided country with its Flemish region and French-speaking Wallonia closer together again. In any case, there is a wave of unprecedented willingness to help in Belgium in the face of this horror.

Flood situation in Belgium

Stephan Ueberbach, SWR Brussels, July 19, 2021 3:49 p.m.



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