It is the Belgian prosecutor's office in Liège that has commissioned a prosecutor to investigate whether the major floods will have a legal repercussion.
38 people died in the floods in Belgium.
The prosecutor's office does not give interviews but writes in a press release that the decision is in no way a statement of possible responsibility, but the investigation is a result of a desire to seek the truth in respect for the victims and their relatives.
Warnings and dams are investigated
In Belgium, it has been discussed how the storm and flood warning system has worked, and whether residents in risk areas along the rivers should have been asked to evacuate earlier.
It is also discussed whether dams in the rivers have been opened in the right way and at the right times.
This applies to a large dam at Eupen where locks were opened without residents downstream receiving warnings.
Another discussion concerns whether sewage systems and street wells have been correctly dimensioned based on the amounts of rain that have now arrived.
Prosecutors in Belgium have a low threshold for initiating preliminary investigations, and it is far from certain that the investigation now being launched will lead to prosecution.
In Belgium, a parliamentary commission is also being discussed to investigate how the floods were handled.
"Complete system that must be reviewed"
A spokesperson for evacuees who have been allowed to leave their homes says that thorough investigations are now required.
- Personally, I think it will be difficult to hold an individual responsible, it is a whole system that must be thoroughly examined.
The weather service's warnings, those in control of the dams, European flood cooperation, state, regional and local authorities, must all be examined, says Bruno Liesse, from the group evacuated in Chaudfontaine.
- But especially when there are red warnings at the highest level, then those responsible at the local level must do something and not just wait, says Bruno Liesse.
SVT has contacted the prosecutor's office in Liège, but it is not possible to get any answers as to how extensive the Belgian prosecutor's investigation will be or how long the investigation is expected to last.