Millennium Flood: – “The wounds of the flood are far from healed”

The country is still in crisis mode as the “clean-up work will take weeks and months,” Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner explained at a briefing in St. Pölten yesterday, continuing: “And it will take even longer for the injuries to be cleared up, for the people to be healed.

There has never been a flood of this magnitude before. That is why the payment of aid money has been increased enormously. “Instead of the previous 20 percent, we can now support flood victims with a replacement rate of 50 percent. In the case of hardship, the compensation should even increase to 80 percent. “That is really a big help,” says Mikl-Leitner. Although this cannot solve all the problems, it can create hope and perspective.

Meanwhile, the clean-up work continues. In many regions and districts, the situation has eased (somewhat). The districts of Tulln, St. Pölten Land and Stadt remain disaster areas. State Fire Department Chief Dietmar Fahrafellner emphasized: “A total of around 55,000 colleagues from the volunteer fire brigade have been on duty in recent days. An operation of this size that has never been seen before in Lower Austria.”

Last weekend, the focus was on cleaning the ÖBB route between St. Pölten and Vienna, for example the Perschlingtaltunnel was pumped empty and cleaned. In Melk, the pumping work was almost completely completed this weekend, but “the next focus is now on the pumping work in the Tulln district.”

State Vice President Stephan Pernkopf gave information on the current status of the operations: “So far, 82,000 people have been deployed. Clean-up work and drinking water supply are currently the main areas of responsibility.” The State Fire Service Council also emphasized the “great neighborhood help from countless volunteers.” Around 1,500 soldiers of the Federal Army were also back in service yesterday. This shows the enormous cohesion in Lower Austria.

The mayor of St. Pölten, Matthias Stadler, spoke of “difficult times for the state capital as well”. The city had invested “many millions in flood protection measures” together with the federal and state governments, but these did not hold up in view of the amount of rain. There are currently more than 1,000 damage reports in St. Pölten. Fast and comprehensive help is important, but also psychological support for victims.

Important Tips for Necessary Flood Repairs
Flood victims now need repairs to walls, insulation, heating and electrical installations. Expert advice and lists of specialist companies are now available from the Energy and Environment Agency ENU on 02742/22144.