With an average of 188 liters per square meter, this was nearly three times the volume of other years. Compared to neighbouring countries, Luxembourg was lucky, with not a single life lost. Still, many suffered excessive damage during the floods.
Nathalie Fantini and Carlos Costa moved to Bascharage a year ago. They had up to 30 cm of water on the ground level of their house. "Faced with that amount of water, your hands are tied," says Nathalie Fantini.
They were forced to move a total of 4 times within 3 weeks in July, with their child and their dog. Now they are renting a home in Tuntange, which they found through friends. "It all feels a bit alien. You have your daily habits. A lot has had to change, not just for me, but for my wife and daughter, too. Even the dog is not himself," says Carlos Costa. They feel that they didn't get the help they would have expected from their municipality. A spokesperson from Bascharage confirmed there was an unfortunate delay in responding to the couple, but that everyone affected were contacted and offered help.
Mersch was another of the more severely affected towns. Pete Hoffmann manages a wood company, which suffered a lot of damage. Nearly half a million Euro, he estimates. The helplessness he felt on the day echoes that of the family from Bascharage: "It is terrible to see everything disappear and there is nothing you can do."
Pete's company is also an electricity supplier for the public power grid in Mersch and environs. The emergency phone lines were ringing day and night after residents lost power, he says.
