Water levels quickly rose at the intersection of Rue Emile Mark and the Rocade, which caught many drivers and pedestrians by surprise. On Friday morning, around twelve hours after the heavy rain, water was still being pumped out of many basements in Differdange.
For local restaurant owner Jacques Pan, it is the second time in three years that his establishment falls victim to flooding. Much of the restaurant’s stock was destroyed, and even electricity and gas went off. Usually, large water masses get carried away by the canal across the street, but on Friday, capacity limits were reached.
The local meteorological station recorded 58.6 litres of rain per square metre between five and seven o’clock in the morning. Neither the holding reservoir, nor the pumping station were able to process these amounts of water.
Differdange councilwoman Laura Pregno, who is in charge of environmental policies, commented on the flooding: “From a technical point of view, all our mechanisms worked the way they should. However, we are talking about water masses that are simply not manageable. It is unfortunate that it happened again after only three years, but our response capabilities have definitely improved since. It is likely to happen again, and we now have to see how we can prepare even better for the eventuality.”
On Friday, Differdange faced more than half of the amount of rain that it usually gets in the entire month of June on average. For some residents, the flooding has undoubtably caused significant damage and brought back memories from similar events in recent years: the flooding in Eppeldorf in 2016, the flooding in Mullerthal in 2018, or the tornado in Pétange and Bascharage in 2019.
