The power outage in the Murtal is over and electricity has been restored since Sunday evening. The damage runs into millions and we are working hard on it. The children did not have school on Monday because of the snow.
No electricity, no mobile network, blocked roads and railway lines: Over the weekend, the onset of winter caused chaos in Upper Styria, especially in the districts of Murau and Murtal.
The lights came back on after about 30 hours on Sunday evening, but it wasn’t until Monday morning that the heating came back on. “The priority was to make kindergartens and compulsory schools warm again,” says Mayor Elke Florian of Judenburg.
The temperature also slowly rose again in the swimming pool and in the town hall. “From Tuesday, normal work will resume everywhere.” Construction site workers still had to cut down a few snapped trees.
Lessons from the brief blackout
Florian’s first assessment of the blackout weekend is positive: ‘The work of the city fire brigade was essential.’ Most Jewish residents also appear to be well equipped; of the 10,000 inhabitants, a maximum of twenty people needed acute help.
Yet the mayor draws lessons from the situation. “In the future, we as a community want to create a heat island for people who have nowhere else to go, for example with babies. In the event of a crisis, information will be available on our display boards.”
Although it was “snow-free” in the Murau and Murtal districts on Monday, 90 percent of students came to their classes, according to the education directorate. “The schools are optimally prepared to deal flexibly with such cases, so that there are no disadvantages for those who have to stay away from school.” From Tuesday everything will be back to normal.
The chaos on the streets has now been eliminated and everyone can drive around freely again. The trains also run throughout Styria again.
And as for electricity: according to Energie Steiermark, work on the broken electricity pylon will take weeks and cost millions. But households no longer notice this.
Increased avalanche danger
After snowfall, great caution must be exercised in case of avalanches. Snow accumulations were particularly worrying above the tree line (around 2000 metres). Because the snow cover is hardened and is very compact due to the recent warm phases and the rain.
No less than half a meter of fresh snow fell this weekend. When transitioning from the warm snowpack foundation to the cold new and blown snow, a weak layer can form over time.
The experts from the Styrian Avalanche Warning Service emphasize that slab avalanches can be caused by even the slightest additional load.
Source: Krone
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