Austria cleans up – Dramatic series of storms: this is what it looks like in the country

In the Rhine Valley, the storm was so violent that trees were broken, roofs were covered and many streets were flooded due to blocked drains. Within a few minutes, more than 30 liters of rain per square meter fell in many places. Hailstones painted streets and meadows white, and as a result – as the rain continued – garages, cellars, underpasses and streets were flooded.

Tree fell on car in Dornbirn
The worst hit areas were the greater Bregenz area, Lustenau and the Rhine delta. But also in the south of the country, for example in Feldkirch, the emergency services were busy.

In the market town in the Dornbirn district, a tree fell on a car. The occupants of the vehicle escaped in shock, but were taken by ambulance to Dornbirn Hospital as a precaution.

Total damage 1.2 million euros
The damage to agriculture in Vorarlberg as a result of the storm is likely to be considerable. The total damage in the “Ländle” is expected to amount to around 1.2 million euros. In the districts of Dornbirn, Bregenz and Feldkirch, agricultural land – mainly corn, potatoes and grassland – of more than 5,000 hectares was “outright destroyed” in some places.

Meanwhile, a discharge peak of around 1,000 cubic metres of water per second was expected on the Rhine on Saturday morning. The population is asked to stay away from the Rhine, so as not to hinder any emergency services work. “For reasons of personal safety, Rhine dams, foreshores and especially the inner walls should be avoided,” the report said.

Several roads in Tyrol are open again
In Tyrol, the roads that had been diverted from Muren and therefore closed on Thursday evening after a storm with heavy rain, were partially reopened to traffic on Saturday morning. For example, the Reschenstrasse (B180) between Pfunds and Ried in the Oberinntal valley was reopened to traffic in both directions, the state announced on Saturday morning. Oberinntalstraße (L65) and Villgratentalstraße remained closed.

Clean-up work is still ongoing
In Lower Austria, the storms caused 360 missions. The districts of Melk, Amstetten and Scheibbs were particularly affected, says Klaus Stebal of the state fire brigade. 200 fire brigades with “a hundred emergency services” responded. In some districts, clean-up work was still going on Saturday.

In the districts of Scheibbs and Amstetten, several roofs were destroyed by hail. Hurricane-like storms and enormous amounts of precipitation also caused fire brigade operations in the Waldviertel. Agriculture was also hit by the hailstorm again. According to the hail insurance, 900,000 euros in damage was caused to arable crops and grassland in the districts of Amstetten, Gmünd, Melk, Scheibbs, St. Pölten, Waidhofen an der Thaya and Waidhofen an der Ybbs.

Disaster in Styria
In Styria, almost 190 fire brigades with around 1,500 firefighters have been deployed since Thursday afternoon to respond to around 700 alarms, according to the State Fire Brigade Association. The district administration of Voitsberg has declared a disaster for the western Styrian communities of Edelschrott, Maria Lankowitz, Krottendorf-Gaisfeld, St. Martin am Wöllmißberg and the municipality of Voitsberg.

“Tree on car, tree on roof, …”
A new storm front, which however moved away relatively quickly, caused massive flooding again on Friday afternoon in the areas of Voitsberg, Knittelfeld and Judenburg, and in some places in the areas of Murau and Mürzzuschlag. The stormy wind uprooted and snapped trees: “Tree on car, tree on roof, tree on power line, roof damaged, loose roof tiles” – these were the reports that came in every second at the state control center. Only shortly after 19:00 did the situation gradually improve.

Thunderstorms also brought train traffic to a standstill
The floods and fallen trees had blocked the Graz-Köflacherbahn (GKB) and the Southern Railway. The railway line between Söding-Mooskirchen and Köflach is expected to be interrupted until Monday (15 July) due to storm damage. Fallen trees had also destroyed the overhead lines of the Southern Railway between Neumarkt in Styria and Friesach in Carinthia. In the evening, trains were not allowed to run to the stations Unzmarkt and Friesach. More than 200 people were taken by ÖBB buses from Friesach to Unzmarkt, and at the train station in Unzmarkt itself more than 300 people waited up to four hours for their onward journey.

Young woman driving a car injured by a tree
In the Judenburg district of the Murtal district in Upper Styria, a young woman was injured when a tree fell on her car, according to the fire department. The road over the Sölk Pass, which is over 1,700 meters above sea level, was closed between Baierdorf and St. Nikolai due to a landslide. The same applied to the B70 towards Voitsberg in western Styria between Gaisfeld and Krems due to storm damage and fallen trees. A 27-year-old firefighter was injured here on Friday by a falling tree.

Several people in distress at sea
In Carinthia, fire brigades had to continue their clean-up operations from Thursday morning on Friday morning, when strong winds toppled numerous trees again in the afternoon and further thunderstorms broke out across the state. The strong storm led to many water rescue and fire brigade operations, especially at Lake Faaker See, Lake Wörthersee and Lake Keutschachersee. Many swimmers, stand-up paddlers and surfers were unable to reach the coast due to the strong waves and were brought to safety in boats.

Clean-up work on Saturday
Carinthia’s fire brigades were faced with some 250 storm operations on Friday, with a total of 151 fire brigades present. Saturday will be dominated by clean-up operations, especially in the Lavanttal, the state fire brigade said.

According to experts from GeoSphere Austria, there were 190,000 lightning discharges on Friday. In addition, wind gusts of 111 km/h were measured in Zeltweg and 97 km/h in Graz.

There is again a risk of thunderstorms in the southeast
Saturday and Sunday, the heat wave will temporarily pause in large parts of the country, with temperatures generally rising to 21 to 28 degrees. In the south, southeast and east of the country, however, temperatures around or just above 30 degrees are still found. Fortunately, the storms are over for now, only on Saturday there is a chance of heavy thunderstorms in the southeast of the country for the last time.