Böheimkirchen in the St. Pölten district is one of the places that was particularly badly hit by the flooding: now the clean-up has begun. The “Krone” took a photo on site.
‘Stay together and stay with it’ is the current motto. When the waters receded, the big clean-up began. Cellars had to be emptied and the damage assessed. There is great solidarity among the people. “Now the work begins,” the Zoka-Svoboda family explains.
The operators of the hotel “Smart Liv’in” acted quickly in case of emergency. The cars from the neighboring settlement found shelter in the parking lot and the rooms were made available free of charge to flood victims.
“Some have lost everything,” says junior boss Christian. One woman could only save herself with the wet clothes on her body. In the hours that followed, the main goal was to comfort those affected. It will probably take many weeks before the traces of the devastation caused by Sunday’s flooding in Böheimkirchen have disappeared.
Out of nowhere, uncontrollable flooding caught the 5,200-person community in the St. Pölten district by surprise. “The water came from three sides at once,” said a resident of the Eichbach settlement when the “Krone” visited the scene. In front of the houses lie ‘mountains of rubbish’. “We have never experienced anything like this. Everything is ruined,” said Evelyn Falleis as she carried her water-soaked belongings from the depths of the cellar.
In 2002, people here were hit by floods. Back then, they got away with it. “This time, all we could do was watch, anything else would have been life-threatening,” said a neighbor. “It came like a wild river from all sides. There were loads of dead pigs floating in the middle, it was just horrible,” Rumpfeis recalls. The animals were swept away and killed by the flooding on a nearby farm.
Viktoria and Peter Anzenberger cannot yet quantify the damage. Their glass company was hit hard by the flooding. “Suddenly sirens were blaring everywhere, and then you get scared. We fled to the top floor,” says the company boss. Next year, the company will celebrate its 150th anniversary: “Giving up is not an option,” says Anzenberger, looking confidently to the future. “There are many who have been hit much worse,” is the general feeling among those affected.
The pumps are pounding incessantly. Countless cellars have to be emptied again after the devastating storms of the past few days. The most important question in these hours is: what to do with all the water? Because floors and canals are full. “Now the real catastrophe begins,” explains Thomas N.. He and his family are among the victims in Pottenbrunn in St. Pölten, which was badly hit by flooding.
The 33-year-old was able to bring his grandparents to safety from the floods on Sunday. “I did it myself. The water kept rising. It was like drawing in a bathtub. The whole district was just one lake,” the man says, describing the events.
What now? “The water was 70 centimeters high. The house is uninhabitable and probably can’t be saved,” said the 33-year-old. An absolute tragedy for his grandparents, who are over 80 years old.
The next day, there were still around 80 firefighters on duty. “There is a state of emergency. We arrived from Neunkirchen at five in the morning to help,” explains operations manager Johann Hödl. A street away, comrades from Salzburg support the local Florianis. But as long as the groundwater level does not drop, they are fighting a losing battle here.
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.
