Nice weather, but half of Belgium is under water

Weather can be so unpredictable! While West and East Flanders are enjoying lovely sunshine and high temperatures, other parts of the country suffer from heavy thunderstorms. The rain falls so heavy at places it causes flooding. The main reason for this is because many people have built homes in regions that were susceptible to flooding in the past (but who don't know right now).

Although... if you go and live in the 'Brook' street, or in 'Waterland' you should be aware that your feet could get wet!

But a Belgian is born with a brick in his/her stomach, so they all want a place of their own. And building ground have always been much cheaper at places where there are certain risks attached. Where we live, across the railroad lines, there used to be pasture. When rain fell heavy, this land went underwater, but all the rest remained dry. And some twenty years ago, city council allowed people to buy building permits there. So now there are quite some villa's... which get underwater every now and then.

Building is one of the main reasons why heavy floodings occur. Like 50 years ago, there were regions reserved for the extra water. But space is growing spare and so they are used. Also many roads are being laid, which causes more trouble.

I'm glad I live in a street where there has never been a problem, as it's a bit higher because of the railroad. 100 meter further, and you have water. The worst thing we ever had was that our garden was a lake with little ducks in it. But the water never entered our home, as the garden is low enough.