Extreme weather in the southern part of the Grand Duchy - situation at 12 noon on Monday

The Government's Crisis Cell met at 11 a.m., chaired by Minister of the Interior Taina Bofferding and in the presence of Mayor Pierre Mellina and Alderman Frank Pirrotte, to take stock of the situation in the municipalities of Pétange and Käerjeng and decide on the action to be taken in the coming hours and days.

Further to the mobilisation of considerable physical and human resources, it was possible to get a lot of work done throughout the evening and early this morning. At 10 a.m. the CGDIS Operations Management Centre reported that the emergency services still had to respond to about a quarter of the total number of calls for help. 

In all, there will still be more than 100 CGDIS personnel deployed in the field today. Since this morning, they have had the support of the army, plus 60 people and about twenty vehicles from Germany's Technisches Hilfswerk at the request of the Crisis Cell.

The main objective today is still spreading tarpaulins and sealing damaged roofs. This is particularly because MeteoLux is forecasting showers and local thunderstorms with the possibility of high winds for this afternoon and into the evening. The Operations Management Centre has already adopted the necessary preventive measures. The public is advised to keep an eye on the weather conditions and if necessary adopt the suitable behaviour indicated on the www.meteolux.lu website.  

Since traffic conditions are still difficult in and near the streets affected, the Crisis Cell repeats its appeal to people to avoid the area if possible; the police are keeping a close eye on the area. Pending completion of the work being done on damaged electricity pylons and cables, the public is reminded that approaching them is strictly forbidden.

The public is reminded that the phone number 112 is only for emergency calls; all other calls should be made to the hotline at (+352) 8002 8080.

The municipalities of Pétange and Käerjeng have also set up hotlines covering any questions about rehousing, expert reports on the stability of buildings, and the management of waste and debris:

For the municipality of Pétange: (+352) 50 12 51-22 22
For the municipality of Käerjeng: (+352) 621 455 716

The Psychological Support Group has been helping a number of people following the events of the past few days. The psychological support teams are available to anyone requesting help via the hotline.

The company Sudgaz is currently working on reestablishing the gas supply to the affected areas in Pétange and Käerjeng. To prevent any accidents, the people affected MUST NOT re-open their gas pipes themselves and must wait for the professionals to do their work. If you have any questions, phone the Sudgaz helpline: (+352) 55 66 55 75.

The Crisis Cell is continuing to keep a close eye on the evolution of the situation.

(Communicated by the Government's Crisis Cell / High Commission for National Protection)