• Major floods are currently hitting part of Belgium.

  • Numerous floods caused heavy damage and killed at least four people.

  • The city of Liège is being evacuated due to the rapid rise in the level of the Meuse.

Eastern France, Germany and Belgium were hit by torrential rains which caused numerous floods.

This Thursday afternoon, the authorities asked the inhabitants of certain districts of Liège, in Belgium, to evacuate their homes while the level of the Meuse river continues to rise.

"According to the latest information and estimates communicated by the Walloon Region, it could rise 1.50 m above the current level in the coming hours", alert the services of the mayor of Liège about the level of the Meuse river.

At 2 a.m. on Thursday, the Lihxe station, downstream from Liège, recorded a level of 4.36 m. At 2 p.m., it was 5.58 m.

Evacuate the areas on the banks of the Meuse and reach the heights of the city

"The authorities of the City of Liège are asking the inhabitants of Liège who still have the possibility of evacuating to do so if they are in a flood zone on the edge of the Meuse". Police vehicles relay this call via loudspeakers in the neighborhoods concerned. Residents are invited to go to the heights of the city and businesses must close. If vehicles are still allowed to leave the city, on the other hand, no more vehicles can enter it except for emergency services. The peak of the flood was not yet reached at 3 p.m.

This catastrophic situation is due to the heavy rainfall recorded in the last few hours and the partial operation of a dam.

In fact, only two gates are operational out of the six that make up the Monsin dam bridge, currently under construction.

As explained by our colleagues from RTBF, it is therefore impossible for him to release enough water, which causes the level to rise rapidly.

On the dam site, a crane also threatens to collapse on a high-voltage line which supplies pumping stations in particular.

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