The Sun.
London, England, 1850-08-22 00:00:00

INUNDATIONS IN BELGIUM.

In consequence of excessive heavy rains on Thurs-
day, Friday, and Saturday in different parts of Bel-
;
iuin9 extensive inundations were caused, and vast
damage was done.. The railway communications
Letween Brussels and the French frontier were in-
terrupted.. The Brussels and local journals contain
long details of the inundations, and from them we
compile the following :-
FRIDAY.—The waters had risen so high in the
direction of Hal and the environs of Anderlecht,
that most of the cellars and lower parts of the
houses were inundated. At the Northern Railway
station at Brussels, horses had water as high as their
breasts. From Hal to Brussels, the overflowing of the
&nine caused the fields to resemble a vast lake. In
the valley of Etterbeck, of Saint Josse ten Noode, and
Schaerbeck, the waters came in floods from the adja-
cent heights, carrying with them masses of sand and
earth. In the environs of Isque and Wavre, the
earth in several places was undermined, and large
masses fell in. The great highway ws covered
with earth. Communications were entirely in-
terrupted and the crops were destroyed. Lightning
struck a wall at Opwyck, and entirely destroyed it-
-8 ,me of the bricks were thrown a distance of 600 feet.
At Meysse,- the buildings of a farm and all the crops
they contained were destroyed by lightning, and at
Wemel the roof of a house was set on fire, but the
flames were extinguished by the rain. At Antwerp, at
about half-past four in the afternoon, there was a tre-
mendous storm, and a deluge of rain fell. Many of the
streets presented the appearance of lakes, and in the
lower parts of .the town the wiser in the houses was
several feet deep. At about seven there was a whirl-
wind which did immense damage in the country dis-
tricts near the city. In the nearest villages, many
large trees were uprooted—at Deurne a clump of 28
was blown down. The lightning struck several
buildings ,in Antwerp. Fires were occasioned by
lightning at Oorderen, Clampthout, Wilmarsdonck,
and other localities. In some places the crops
were injured by the lightning. At Ghent, the
rain fell, according to the local journals, in
" cataracts," and there was a large rising of the
waters. In the quarter Saint Sauveur, a large
sugar manufactory was destroyed by lightning.
Ac Grammont the river overflowed, and the light-
ning struck some buildings- At Denterghem se-
veral persOs sought refuge in a mill ; the lightning
struck it, ;and three were killed, five or six were
seriously injured. At Thielt some barns and crops
were destroyed by the lightning. At Merckem,
Woumen, and Wercken, there were vast inun-
dations, which did incalculable damage. At Courtrai,
the rain fell in torrents for two days, and the light-
ning destroyed some buildings; it also very nearly
struck a railwayy train. At Liege the river rose con-
siderably. At Namur the Meuse rose a foot and a
half in the course of an hour. At Hoves, near En.
ghien, the lightning struck a woman who was nursing
her children.

SATURDAY.—The Southern Railway was greatly
injured by the waters. Near Mons not only were the
rails carried away, but the water chug deep into the
embankments. The train from Paris had to stop on
reaching Mons. All the neighbourhood of the city
was under water, and presented a fearful spectacle.
A boat was procured to convey the letters to a part of
the railway which was uninjured, and where a locomo-
tive was waiting. The violence of the waters was
such that it took several hours, and required extraor-
dinary efforts on the part of the boatmen to reach
the locomotive. The letters were then conveyed to
Hal. There the line was inundated, and a man had
to carry them on his head to a rising ground, where
a cart was procured to convey them to Brussels. At
B:ussels during the night alarm guns were fired.
At daybreak the Chaus,4e d'Anderlecbt was inun-
dated for a length of about 500 yards.—At ten
o'clock, at the place called the Tete de Monton,
the water was, a yard deep. The Veterinary school
at Curegkem was entirely submerged. All the ma-
nufactories, &c., on the banks of the river were inun-
dated. Boats were out in all directions to assist the per-
sons in danger of drowning. The communes of Molen-
beck-Saint-Jean and Lacken were inundated, as
were also the Faubourg. of Flanders and the quarter
between the Porte de Ninove and the Rue de Gnu.
Tne waters of the Seune were higher than in 1839.
At twelve o'clock the inundation reached the lower
parts of the town, and made great progress in the
Fcarter of the Rue d'An.derlecht„ in, the Rue de. la
iancee, the Place -dei Martyrs, the Chaussee de
Flandre. Between Brussels and Hal the railway
was destroyed on a length of between three and
four kilometres. Vilvorde,. Hal, •and all the vil-
lages surrounding Brussels were under water. At
Hal the waters rose with such violence that they
threw down a house. At five o'clock the inundation
was more considerable than in 1820. Not only were
all the faubourga near the river inundated, but
waters continued to rise in the lower parts of the
town. The authorities were on foot, and the inha-
bitants were in dismay. A' lock on the Charleroi
gave way, and the waters rushed into the Senne.
A veritable torrent was formed in the Rues de
Flandre, du Rempart des Moine?, the Marche
crux Cochons, the Rues d Ophem, Locquenghien,
&c. The waters fell in cascades near the
P,,nt des Barques. Tne Corn Market and several
other streets were inundated. Men waded through the
water to convey provisions to the inundated families.
The rain again began to fall heavily. At seven
o'clock the cannon of al trm continued to thunder.
The inundation became more and more menacicg, it
invaded all the streets of the centre of the town and
the vicinity of the S )uthern Railway station. The
Place S. Gary became impassable, and the Grande
Place and the Place de la bloom& were in danger of
being inundated. The bourginestre traversed the
inundated streets on horseback, and ordered beds to
be provided at- the hospital for the relief of all
accidents.

SUMDAY.-At Brussels, at midnight, the rising
of the waters had not ceased, and the inundation ex-
tended from the Faubourg d'Anderlecht to the Place
St. Gery, and covered all the streets on both sides.
The waters of the Senne extended from the Quai de
la Fiancée to the Place de la Monnaie by the Rue
Fosse-aux-Loups, and to the Place des Martyrs
by the Rue Chant- d'Oiseau, thereby int-rcepting
all communication with the Northern Railway.
All the cellars of the neighbouring houses
were inundated. In the lower parts of the Theatre
de la Monnaie there were six feet of water, and
some of the machinery was inundated ; no perform-
ance was possible. In the Rue de la Fiancee a vast
quantity of objects was swept away by the violence
of the waters. Near the bassin Sainte Catherine
some sacks of salt were carried away, and a work-
man, in trying to rescue them, was so severely in-
jured that his life was considered in danger. Very
many of the gas lamps could not be lighted in
consequence of the water having got into the
pipes. The horse of a gendarme, on duty on the
Boulevard du Midi, 'took fright at the flood and threw
the man into the fosse, in which there was 30 feet of
water ; he was drowned, but the horse was saved.
On the Boulevard de rEntrepOt, near the Canal de
Charleroi, a crowd assembled to see the falling of a
mass of water ; a protecting bar having given way,
four men were precipitated into the torrent, and three
of them were drowned. Near the church of Bon-
Secours and in,some streets near the quarter of the
Vieux Marche the water was five feet deep. The
church des Riches Claire 3 was surrounded on all
parts. In the Faubourg de Flandre, however,
and in the interior of the town the wators sensibly
diminished, and at eleven o'clock had fallen 11 feet.
Warehouses containing oil, beer, spirits, and other de-
scriptions of merchandise were completely destroyed.
A great number of cattle perished, and about flay
houses or buildings were so injured that they fell.
All night the authorities were on foot, and active
measures were taken in different parts to prevent the
waters from extending. In the quarter Leopold the
watees dug large ravines. At Etterbeck considerable
damage was done. The town of Hal greatly suffered,
and several persons were drowned. From observations
taken at the Royar-Observatory at Brussels, it appears
that on the 15th'atid 16th the quantity of water which
fell was 78 millimetres : with one exception, in 1839,
it is the largest quantity since 1833. Die local
paper 3 are filled With accounts of the inundations in
different parts of the kingdom. Without going into
details, it may be mentioned that incalculable damage
appears to have been caused at Tournai, Audenarde,
Synghem, Asper, and Eecke by the overflowing of
the Escaut ; at Ninive by the overflowing of
the Dendre ; at Marcy-les-Enghien ; LIVAUX
Saint Anne, &c. &c., the destruction was
chiefly of growing crops, and agricultural produce.
At several places farm buildings were destroyed
by lightning, and at Lavaux a young man was killed.
Part of the town of Tournai was inundated, and in
some of the houses the water rose as high as the sa-
loons. At Ghent the river overflowed, but it does
not appear that much damage was caused. Tne lower
parts of the city of Liege were inundated, and navi-
gation on the river was interrupted. Near Charleroi all
the fields were submerged, and the injury done to crops
was immense. The lower part of the town was sub-
merged to a depth of between tw ) and three yards,
end the Sambre rose with such rapidity that it was
almost expected to cover the bti lge. The church
on the Place Verte was completely surrounded with
water. The workmen of the railway station em-
ployed f'ascines, sods, and dung to keep out the water,
but without effect. Boats were swamped on the
INlarohienne, and it was found that several persons had
perished. In consequence of the inundation the price
of flour rose six francs the sack. Tt e service on
most of the railways was interrupted,
_ _

At Valenciennes there have been extensivo. inunda-
tions, caused by the overflowing of the Scheldt.
The neighbouring country has also been under water.
At Orchies, near Lille, some damage has been done,
and several fields inundated by the overflowing of
the Marque. At Maubege, also, there have been
inundations which have done considerable injury.