March 31, 2016

Luxembourg firefighters (click here) had a lot of work on their hand on Monday night facing basements knee-deep in water and flooded roads across the country.

Due to the heavy and continuous rains in many areas, residents struggled with flooded cellars and garages in their homes. Firefighters and other emergency services were called out more than 250 times to deal with widespread flooding.

Among the call outs, the majority were in wineries (206), while 36 calls concerned blocked roads. Meanwhile, two campsites were evacuated, in Alzingen and Diekirch). No injuries were reported in any of the incidents.

Although Tuesday morning looks a little brighter, the aftermath was still prevalent and roads were sporadically blocked.

An example of this was the road between Roeser and Bivange, south of the City, but by 7:30am, most obstacles were removed and the water pumped away.

The road at Mullerthal in the direction of Schiessentümpel was completely blocked after a tree fell right across the road. Again, by about 7:30am the road was cleared.

Luxembourg Interior Minister Dan Kersch thanked volunteer firefighters and rescue workers for their efforts in a press release on Tuesday.

"These interventions have shown once again the importance of voluntary commitment, without which it would not have been possible to deal with such an emergency," he said.