Downpours cause flooded roads, basements in Limburg, Noord-Brabant

Heavy rainfall resulted in flooded streets and basements in the south of Limburg and parts of Noord-Brabant on Friday morning. And the storms aren’t over yet. The meteorological institute KNMI issued a code yellow thunderstorm warning for the two provinces and Gelderland for this afternoon.

In Limburg, several lanes of the A2 highway near Meerssen flooded this morning. The Rijkswaterstaat closed the highway and instructed motorists to make a detour. In Noord-Brabant, a tree on the tracks near Vught disrupted train traffic between Tilburg and Den Bosch. NS hoped to have trains running again by this afternoon.

Problems in Noord-Brabant were mainly limited to Den Bosch, though Oisterwijk also had some flooded streets. In Den Bosch, fallen trees and branches littered multiple streets, several homes’ basements flooded, and a dentist practice had rainwater streaming in through the roof, according to Omroep Brabant.

In Limburg, the first reports of flooded streets came from Maastricht and Eijsden. Later, there were also reports from Voerendaal, Geulle, Eygelshoven, Bunde, Urmond, Amstenrade, Brunssum, and Spaubeek, 1Limburg reported. In Heerlen, the PLUS supermarket on Van Weerden Poelmanstraat had to close its doors due to flooding.

Worse may be yet to come, as the KNMI expects more thunderstorms in the area this afternoon. The meteorological institute has a code yellow warning in place for Noord-Brabant, Limburg, and Gelderland from noon until 4:00 p.m.

“Some strong thunderstorms are expected this afternoon, possibly with hail up to 2 centimeters and a lot of precipitation in a short time. Local flooding may occur,” the KNMI warned. The showers will move away to Germany during the evening.