Storm in Tyrol – tree falls on bus, house evacuated after falling stones

Weather experts had predicted it – late Tuesday evening, after an extremely hot day with more than 37 degrees, the first storms hit Tyrol. From the Oberland to the Unterland and from the Ausserfern to East Tyrol, the fire brigades had to carry out hundreds of storm operations.

Coach crashes into fallen trees on A12
Around midnight there was a spectacular accident on the A12 Inntal Autobahn near Münster (Kufstein district). A coach on its way to Italy collided with fallen trees. The windshield of the bus was shattered.

Good luck with bad luck: According to the police, none of the occupants were injured. The bus was eventually able to drive to the next parking lot under the supervision of the police and fire brigade.

Incidentally, several trees or parts of them fell on roads or the A12 due to the violent storm – such as in the Wiesing and Kramsach region. The clean-up work was carried out by the fire brigade and employees of Asfinag.

Numerous operations also in the capital
Numerous operations, mainly due to the violent storm, also took place at night in Innsbruck. More than 50 surgeries were recorded within an hour, according to the city. These were mainly fallen trees, construction fences and street signs, broken branches and water damage.

On All Saints’ Day, the Mittenwaldbahn was closed due to fallen trees. The IVB tram line was blocked in Reichenauerstrasse.

Rockfall: House cleared
In Reith im Alpbachtal (Kufstein district) stones fell in the course of the storm around 1 a.m. “A building was hit by several boulders and damaged,” the police said. Furthermore, several boulders fell on the L294.

Roadblock in the Zillertal
In the Zillertal in the district of Schwaz, according to the police, a violent thunderstorm raged shortly after midnight over the municipalities of Zell am Ziller, Gerlosberg and Hainzenberg. In the latter place, several trees and debris fell on the national road Gerlos (B165). In addition, a safety net was severely damaged. The road is closed to all vehicle traffic until further notice. A geologist will be on site to assess the situation on Wednesday.

Western Railway interrupted
The storm also left its mark on the Oberland – and had an impact on train traffic. The route between Imst-Pitztal station and Schönwies was interrupted or closed due to damage to the overhead line.

The long-distance trains initially awaited the closure or were diverted. A track replacement service for S-Bahn and regional trains was set up between Landeck-Zams station and Imst-Pitztal station.

Power outages across the country
The storm also affected the power grid and the state-owned grid operator Tinetz’s outage brigades were in constant use. “At its peak, about 14,000 network customers and more than 300 transformer substations in 22 communities were affected,” it said. Wednesday morning there were “only” about 550 customers.

During the night, the two 110 kV lines at Kirchbichl in the lowlands also failed. This affected the Brixen and Hopfgarten substations in Brixental. The malfunction is currently still being worked on.

More thunderstorms possible after calming down
After an easing on Wednesday morning, severe thunderstorms, high lightning activity and wind gusts of up to 120 km / h can occur again by noon at the latest. In addition, extensive heavy rainfall of up to 50 liters per square meter can fall on Thursday night. “Probably all of Tyrol will be affected!”