As expected, the intense heat was interrupted by thunderstorms on Wednesday. Streets have been flooded, streams have overflowed, mudslides have blown away, trees have been tossed across the road by the stormy heavy rain and the fire department is once again called. Especially in the OberLavanttal, the weather on Wednesday causes operations.
At Twimberg in the municipality of Bad St. Leonhard, the “Reinerbachl” blocked the current under the Obdacher Bundesstraße, causing the stream to overflow its banks and burying the B 78 over a length of more than 50 meters at a height of 50 centimeters with mud and rubble . The Obdacher Bundesstraße was therefore impassable, but should be open to traffic again by 7 p.m. at the latest.
Basements have been flooded in several communities
In addition, this storm made municipal roads in the districts of Schiefling, Schönberg, Prebl and Gräbern in the municipality of Bad St. Leonhard impassable for a short time due to fallen trees and small-scale mudslides. These could be removed by the construction site of the municipality of Bad St. Leonhard and the volunteer fire brigades of Bad St. Leonhard, Twimberg and Schiefling. In the Twimberg district, several cellars were flooded.
shut off from the outside world
A farm in Unterpreitenegg is not accessible because the Auerlingen municipal road has been diverted due to fallen trees. Fallen trees blocked Packer Straße B 70 between Waldenstein and Twimberg in several places. At road kilometer 77.2 in Twimberg, 50 meters of the national road Packer was built by a debris flow. Heavy equipment is required for the clean-up. The road will be cleared on Thursday. The Packer Straße (B 70) will therefore remain closed to all traffic between Twimberg and Waldenstein until further notice.
Also in Upper Carinthia, in the Spittal district, firefighting operations are necessary due to thunderstorms. In Obergottesfeld, blockages in the Mühlenbach caused partial flooding of the town. Three houses had to be cleared of water and debris. Five weirs are still active there.
Individual deployments were also reported to the state alarm and warning center from the areas of Kötschach, Weißensee, Guttaring, Launsdorf, Althofen, Hart/Lavamünd.
Hundreds of homes are without electricity. As is so often the case, the Metnitztal and Görtschitztal valleys are particularly affected. Thunderstorms are expected to ease late Wednesday evening.
Heat waves have increased in frequency by 50%
Thunderstorms are common after heat waves. And heat waves in Austria have become about 50 percent more frequent in recent decades, and even a few days longer, according to an analysis by GeoSphere Austria. At the weather station at Klagenfurt Airport, there was an average heat wave every two to three years between 1961 and 1990, lasting an average of six days. In the period from 1991 to 2020, there was an annual average heat wave with an average duration of ten days.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
