STORM CIARA IN WATERLOO

Since Saturday evening Belgium expected the strongest wind or storm ever recorded. Everybody was talking about that in the Newspapers, Radios and TV and gave instructions what to do to protect the properties or houses or buildings or themselves. Now this makes it sound exaggerated to people living in countries where storms are something nearly "normal". This is not the case here the last one we had with winds over 180 nearly 200 km/h was in 1999 and from that day on, each time a breeze is blowing every wood, park etc is closed. We fell from one extreme to the other.

This time the wind speed should reach 140 km/h or a little more. And it happened ! At the coast it was even more

Here in Waterloo we had rather small damages compared to other countries. My friends were lucky except two, one had a piece of her gazebo blown away and the other the fence of her garden like  on the picture below. We had nothing except two flower pots which turned over and now I have all the earth on the white tiles of the entrance !!

Finally we were lucky because we head no dead maybe a few injured but nothing serious.




This garden had less luck



The renovation of the new shopping center was seriously disturbed



The works had to be stopped of course and you could just watch how things collapsed




Some roads were blocked by old trees which didn't resist the strong wind and fell across the streets.



This old barn was also heavily damaged



There is a lot to do for the firemen and other helpers to cut the trees and free the streets.

Of course all woods and parks were closed.



A renovated school was also heavily damaged



and of course some cars



The historical building was lucky the tree didn't hit it



Some people couldn't get out with their cars until the firemen had pulled the tree aside



The old cemetary of Waterloo was heavily damaged too. It's very close to our house, maybe tomorrow I could go there and take some pictures, it's certainly closed because too dangerous for visitors.








Our train station  is beeing modernized and was quite damaged by Ciara.

Besides the material damages, there were also car accidents, trains retarded, and airplanes cancelled.

While I am typing it is still howling around the house and the worst noise is in our open fire although I had closed the flap, but the wind plays in the chemney.

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Our TV station made people hysterical announcing almost the end of the world only because the storm Ciara would arrive ! I had already seen the arrival  yesterday on a blog from a little island in Scotland where it had arrived and was already very strong, more then 145 km/h ! Everything is exaggerated in this TV station.

On Saturday it was only grey and humid and I met with a friend, she is the wife of my son's best friend and we wanted to have a little chat together only the two of us. We seldom have the occasion. It was very nice and we had a cup of coffee and a piece of chocolate cake. It's a very nice place and the only one in whole Waterloo and the little cities around where you can get a real breakfast (even an English one) from 6 am on ! Otherwise the poor tourists have to wait until 9 am !



and they have a big choice and a lot of success of course !

On Sunday we wanted to go to a special Garden Center which has also statues for the garden, to buy a buddha as birthday gift for a friend. The Garden center is about 20 km far from Waterloo. Already in the morning a very strong wind started and then I heard in the News that the storm called Ciara had hit the Belgian coast. About twenty flights operated by Brussels Airlines were canceled from Sunday late afternoon due to the storm Ciara. Just like other countries which had announced to reduce flights.

I didn't give up so easily and as agreed went to Nicole to pick her up ! But underway there was a lot of wind even in the city and sometimes hit my car which shook a bit. Maria didn't want to come she is quickly scared. At the end we decided to stay at Nicole's and



watched a movie. Around the house whistled the wind and suddenly we heard a big boom it was a very heavy flower pot with a palm tree in who was blown from one side to the other of the very large balcony ! As it rained we couldn't pick up the earth and had to leave it there.



Nicole's little cat was restless and had a strange expression in her eyes as if she feared something.



Later at home I saw a few damages on Internet and amongst the others also a picture of the street we would have taken to go to the Garden Center. Fortunately we didn't go !

Knowing cats quite good, it was the behaviour of Isis which convinced me finally to give up !