May Day in Antwerp Waters
Heavy rains have turned Antwerp into a wetland, with torrential rains accompanied by thunder and lightning. Roads were turned into rivers, with vehicles slowly making their way through rushing waters and pedestrians had to navigate the rivulets that formed all over the pavements.
The rainy season in Antwerp usually runs between the first of September until the 31st of August, so it was not surprising for rain to fall so late in the spring. However the ferocity and unrelenting downpour caused many in the largest Belgian port town to react with worry. Most of its citizens cannot remember such enormous amounts of water descending on the city.
The fact that its sewer system hails from the late nineteenth century, combined with the development of the subterranean Tram network - or the 'M', as it's called in local parlance - couldn't cope with the watery onslaught didn't help; water was everywhere. People were seen struggling with household pumps, trying to stave off flooding of the communal basements in apartment blocks, whose inhabitants were threatened by electrical outages and antiquated fire engine trucks were seen rushing to and fro, seemingly trying to outrush the raindrops. Out of the 1,750 calls that were handled by the emergency services, only 1,500 were dealt with, for lack of equipment to deal with such an unforeseen storm.
The motorways around Antwerp, as in the whole Flanders region didn't fare better. The flat open space that gives the low countries their name allowed the wind and sleet a free hand, tossing the smaller cars about on the motorway.
Travelers to and from Antwerp are advised to take precautionary measures, especially this weekend, if reports from the Belgian meteorological office are to be taken seriously: Monday's gloomy weather has been forecast to be repeated on Shabbos with the tail end of the storm to last until Sunday next week.
Published in the Jewish Tribune 02/06/2016
First published online on 03/06/2016 on Jewish P.O.S.T. - the Jewish Voice for the People Of South Tottenham
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