- Title: 'Flooded with support': Liege sets up crisis centre amid floods
- Date: 16th July 2021
- Summary: LIEGE, BELGIUM (JULY 16, 2021) (REUTERS) PEOPLE INSIDE CRISIS RESPONSE CENTRE, INCLUDING WOMAN COVERED IN HEAT BLANKET WOMAN COVERED IN HEAT BLANKET WOMAN COVERED IN HEAT BLANKET SITTING DOWN AT TABLE VARIOUS OF CENTRE WORKER PUTTING CANNED GOODS INTO CONTAINERS WOMAN LOOKING THROUGH BAG OF SWEATERS WOMAN PILING UP SWEATERS AND JACKETS VARIOUS OF MUNICIPAL WORKERS (SOUNDBITE) (French) LIEGE MUNICIPAL OFFICIAL FOR SOLIDARITY AND SOCIAL COHESION, JULIE FERNANDEZ, SAYING: "Yesterday, here in the centre, we took in around 1,000 people, roughly around 250 families, but we also take in and accompany the people who are looking for their relatives from whom they haven't heard. First, we try to comfort them, to give them information and direct them towards the other centres and other departments that could help them." WOMAN COVERED IN HEAT BLANKET WITH CLOTHING SUPPLIES AROUND VARIOUS OF CENTRE WORKER HELPING BOY TRY ON SHOES CENTRE WORKER WITH WOMAN AND CHILD (SOUNDBITE) (French) LIEGE MUNICIPAL OFFICIAL FOR SOLIDARITY AND SOCIAL COHESION, JULIE FERNANDEZ, SAYING: "Listen, I'd say that we're still in difficulty, and this is not over. We're ready for the worst, event though we hope that the worst won't come. There are no hiccups (in the centre), on the contrary, we have been flooded with support, through community and city workers who made themselves available to come and set up the centre, and through the residents who demonstrated great solidarity, as you can see behind me, all the living supplies, all the clothing supplies we received within hours. Actually, we've asked people to stop bringing in stuff, since we now have too much and we can't stock them up." VARIOUS OF CENTRE STAFF WITH FOOD SUPPLIES (SOUNDBITE) (French) CRISIS RESPONSE CENTRE COORDINATOR, GELICA DALON, SAYING: "We've seen people jump out of their windows from the second floor into the waters, which means there was danger. I don't have all the latest information, but I think the waters are slowly starting to go down, so that means we will take in people who have been stuck for two, three days. So, I hope we can then answer to families that are really desperate as they no longer have news from their father, their uncle, their son in the last 24 or 48 hours." PEOPLE INSIDE CENTRE VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF CENTRE
- Embargoed: 30th July 2021 11:03
- Keywords: Belgium Liege Meuse crisis centre evacuations flooding rains residents
- Location: LIEGE, BELGIUM
- City: LIEGE, BELGIUM
- Country: Belgium
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Europe,Floods
- Reuters ID: LVA001EM3B2H3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: PLEASE NOTE: EDIT 5087-EUROPE-WEATHER/BELGIUM-LIEGE-MORNING CONTAINS SHOTS OF FLOODWATERS IN LIEGE
City officials in the Belgian city of Liege have set up a crisis response centre to take in locals who have been displaced by rising floodwaters.
The centre, set up the gymnasium of the Grivegnee neighbourhood, has taken in 1,000 people, or roughly 250 families, since Thursday (July 15), municipal official Julie Fernandez told Reuters.
"We have been flooded with support, through community and city workers who made themselves available to come and put up the centre, and through the residents who demonstrated great solidarity," Fernandez said.
Floodwaters submerged roads, damaged houses and cars in the Belgian city of Liege on Thursday as residents of neighbourhoods bordering the overflowing Meuse river were asked to evacuate.
The city is hard-hit by the floods which have swept the south of the country and left at least six dead. The situation is set to worsen as the water is going to reach its highest level on Friday (July 16).
Record rainfall across western Europe has caused rivers and lakes to burst their banks in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany and Switzerland.
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