The heavy rain in Vorarlberg, which lasted for hours, necessitated some 1,500 firefighters on Friday. The record rains led to numerous flooding of neighborhoods and streets, as well as mudslides. An important part of the Rheintalautobahn (A14) was closed for hours, bringing traffic in the Lower Rhine Valley to a standstill. However, the end of the rain around midnight brought significant relief. No one was injured.
At the Rescue and Fire Brigade Control Center (RFL) in Feldkirch, events skipped a beat on Friday: water was reported in the building every second, especially basements and garages were full. Similarly, underpasses and lanes of major arterial roads were flooded, several cars got stuck in the bodies of water. The Rheintalautobahn was not passable from Friday evening 6:00 pm to Saturday morning 2:00 am. Sometimes the railway line from Dornbirn to Bregenz was also closed.
Floods and mudslides in Wolfurt
The Lower Rhine Valley was particularly affected, where, in addition to Bregenz, the focus was on the two municipalities of Wolfurt and Kennelbach. Streams overflowing their banks flooded Wolfurt town center and mudslides also fell. Several industrial sites were also flooded. Further south, in Götzis (district of Feldkirch), a 200-square-meter underground car park was submerged two meters after a dam burst, in Altach the area in front of the Rheinauen pool had to be flooded.
When Vorarlberg’s waterways had low water levels due to the drought of recent weeks, they turned into raging rivers and streams on Friday afternoon. After the rains stopped, the levels quickly calmed down and dropped to the “elevated average water” level that is very common. The water level of Lake Constance – the lake is still very low – rose by 21 centimeters from Friday morning to Saturday morning – to raise Lake Constance by just one centimeter, it takes 5.4 million cubic meters of water.
New 24-hour rainfall records
According to the ZAMG, new records were set for 24-hour rainfall across the country on Friday afternoon: in Bregenz more than 200 liters per square meter gathered at 4.30 pm (previous maximum: 174 liters/1968), in Dornbirn the was almost 180 liters (113 liters/2013). Almost 160 liters (126 liters/2013) were registered in Fraxern in the district of Feldkirch and 150 liters (122 liters/1910) in the town of Feldkirch. In comparison: in Vorarlberg, on average, no more than 100 liters of rain fall during the entire month of August.
Tirol came off much lighter – although there was also a rain warning for Vorarlberg’s eastern neighbor. However, there were also floods and mudslides in the Tyrolean lowlands. In Auffach in der Wildschönau (Kufstein district), a landslide displaced 100 meters from a municipal road, but it was quickly remedied. The emergency services were also alerted to Scheffau, Kundl and Wörgl. Precipitation was announced for both Vorarlberg and Tirol on Saturday, but it must be kept within limits.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
