The fire brigades in the region of Knittelfeld and Spielberg (Styria) did not get any rest. There have been hundreds of surgeries since Friday night’s hail. Heavy rain continued to prompt new emergency calls on Tuesday.
While the hail remained harmless in the greater Graz area on Friday night, there was extensive damage in the Upper Styrian town of Knittelfeld and neighboring Spielberg. Centimeter-thick hailstones smashed through hundreds of rooftops in both communities. The 18 fire brigades in the Knittelfeld region had to complete almost 300 operations within three days and received the support of more than 200 firefighters from other districts (Bruck, Judenburg, Leoben, Graz-Omgeving, Liezen).
Constantly new damage reports
When the worst seemed to be over, another storm broke on Monday evening. And Tuesday morning it rained like rain. The roofs covered so far remain tight, with a few exceptions where the plans have come loose due to the storm, area spokesman Thomas Zeiler reports. The problem is constant new reports of damage: many homeowners are only now realizing that the hail has also damaged their roofs. “There is no end in sight,” Zeiler said.
More than 5,500 storms have set in since the beginning of the year
The Knittelfeld area is currently the hotspot of the Styrian fire brigade. However, there have been occasional storms in other regions, for example in Weiz (trees fell on the street), Murau, Voitsberg and Liezen (small blockades).
A total of 426 storm operations have been registered in Styria since August 14, says state fire service spokesman Thomas Meier. In the year as a whole, there are already more than 5500 – four times as many as in the whole of 2021 and more than twice as many as in 2022.
Source: Krone
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