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South-West Flanders in particular had a hard time. In Zwevegem, twelve residents had to be evacuated from their apartment after the side wall collapsed during a tornado.
“We were sitting in the living room and suddenly it started raining and blowing heavily,” resident Patricia testifies. Her Gail went to take a look and suddenly saw how the wall cracked and a piece of the facade fell down.
“It looked like there was smoke and I couldn’t find my daughter. I started shouting. Suddenly she said, I’m mom here. She came from behind the seat,” says Patricia Declercq.
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Fortunately, no injuries were reported, but the damage was considerable. The fire brigade arrived on site for emergency repairs. The residents were received on Monday evening in a tavern nearby. They cannot spend the night in their apartment. Eleven can stay with family, one sleeps in a hotel.
No current due to lightning
In Koekelare, lightning struck a 36 kilovolt medium-voltage line, which is part of the high-voltage network. Up to 8,000 residents were briefly without power. Almost all of Koekelare and part of Ichtegem were shrouded in darkness, except for the numerous flashes of lightning.
“Fortunately, it was possible to intervene quickly by switching over and the largest power outage only lasted about seven minutes,” said Bart Wouters of Fluvius. Several residents reported that they ended up being without electricity or network for up to twenty minutes. Fluvius is now assessing whether repairs are needed to the grid.
Lightning without thunder
But fierce thunderstorms also passed over East Flanders on Monday evening. With a striking phenomenon, as many readers note: there is a lot of lightning, but you don’t hear the thunder. How so?
“That is possible if you are far from the center of a thunderstorm,” says weatherman David Dehenauw. “You may see the flashes of lightning in the distance, but you may not hear the thunder. Because it’s still too far away. A thunderstorm hanging over your municipality where you see flashes of lightning but hear no thunder, I have never experienced that before and it also seems unlikely to me.”
So it is possible that you don’t hear thunder, he says, but only when you see the thunder in the distance. In the dark you can see those lightning flashes far away.
During the evening and night, the thunderstorm will move further inland with a risk of heavy gusts and heavy showers in Flemish Brabant and Brussels, among others. “Luckily it only lasts a short time. Short but sweet,” concludes Dehenauw.
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