Galeforce winds and heavy rains batter Belgium .
BRUSSELS 1996-08-29
Torrential rains and galeforce winds battered Belgium on Thursday causing widespread damage as some areas had more rainfall in 24 hours than they normally get in a month , the meteorological office said .
Cellars were flooded , trees uprooted and roofs damaged , but there were no reports of any injuries , an interior affairs ministry spokesman said .
Some trains were delayed as fallen trees blocked lines .
Brussels received 5.6 cm ( 2.24 inches ) of water in the past 24 hours -- compared to an average 7.4 cm ( 2.96 inches ) per month -- but in several communes in the south of the country up to 8 cm ( 3.2 inches ) fell , the Royal Meteorological Institute ( RMT ) said .
The RMT spokesman said that near the eastern city of Turnhout , a group of boy scouts camping in a low-lying meadow had to be evacuated as water flooded their tents .
The rain also severely hindered Belgian investigators ' excavations in the southern village of Jumet , where they are looking for bodies in one of the houses of the main character in a paedophile sex-and-murder scandal .
But the coastal towns got off lightly as the flooding that had been expected due to a combination of spring tides and high winds failed to materialise .