Domain of Borgt

Did you know that the hamlet of Borgt (formerly Burght) experienced a terrible disaster in 1839? "The whole hamlet of Burght has been washed away by the force of the water." headlined a newspaper. Torrential rains overcrowded a valley and when a dike broke on the night of 4 to 5 June 1839 , a tidal wave flooded the village, resulting in 74 casualties . The cause of this flood was the new stone road built between Grimbergen and Vilvoorde. This road ran over an elevated berm, which was even more than 9 meters high at Borgt. To ensure the passage of the water of the Tangebeek, a 'culvert' had been built through that roadside dike, a tunnel through which the stream flowed. However, during the night of 4 to 5 June 1839 , this narrow tunnel became clogged. Wood mites piled up along the stream bank had been swept away by the swelling water and had completely blocked the tunnel entrance. In earlier centuries, heavy rains would not have been a problem, because excess water simply ran to the meadows and meadows.

Pascal Brackman