Next flood risk in southern Austria: worry about landslides

2023-08-06 07:00:09

The rain throughout the night has turned to showers everywhere or has stopped altogether. Inflowing water and sodden, sliding slopes caused the fire brigades to constantly have new operations and evacuations. Rivers such as the Gurk and Mur continued to rise sharply, while others such as the South Styrian Sulm had already reached the red high-water mark.

In Carinthia, five out of ten districts were still affected by the floods. While the situation in the neuralgic towns of St. Paul im Lavanttal and Viktring near Klagenfurt stabilized, and the city’s crisis management team spoke of “a slight easing of the situation for the first time”, 20 households with around 50 people in the municipality of Brückl (district of St. Veit) had to be evacuated People are evacuated because of a feared landslide. According to the ORF, some of those affected refused this. In the municipality of Keutschach (Klagenfurt-Land district), 20 houses had to be evacuated. In Klagenfurt, the fire brigade cannot keep up with pumping out the cellar because water is constantly running out. According to Stadtkommunikation, the canal system is also on the verge of capacity.

Heavy rain: situation in southern Austria slightly relaxed

In the flood areas of southern Austria, the situation stabilized due to less rain.

Heavy rain: situation in southern Austria slightly relaxed

A record number of emergency services were fighting the flood on Saturday, 2,500 firefighters each in Carinthia and Styria. The two state governments and the federal government promised quick help. Fire brigades from other federal states, specifically Lower Austria, also helped. Despite the extreme strain, there were also cross-border relief efforts. In Mežica, Slovenia, the crew of an emergency doctor vehicle from the Völkermarkt district helped. The rescue workers were able to bring a 14-day-old baby safely to the Klagenfurt clinic together with his mother. In the night of Sunday, Carinthian firefighters were also able to bring home Carinthian holidaymakers who had been surprised by the flooding on a Slovenian campsite.

In addition, several Slovenian locations that could only be reached from Carinthia were supplied from there. Some damaging events also had a cross-border effect – the Lavamünder Straße (B80) on the state border was closed in both directions because a bridge on the Slovenian side was damaged.

Mur level still rose

In Styria, the level of rivers and streams fell in most of the affected areas. However, that of the Mur rose significantly, as an overview of the Styrian provincial government showed. Higher levels were measured both in Graz and in Mureck on the Slovenian border. This was viewed with great concern, especially in neighboring Slovenia. A dam had already broken there on Saturday, and several places with hundreds of residents had to be evacuated as a precaution.

After the appointments in the region, the Styrian state leadership was affected by the extent of the damage that had occurred in some areas. “The extent cannot be estimated at the moment, according to LH Christopher Drexler (ÖVP) and LHstv. Anton Lang (SPÖ) in unison. One will work for rapid support of particularly affected private households as well as the affected communities. According to the responsible person The damage to municipal, state and federal roads is likely to be enormous for a long time.

Record amounts: Where it has rained the most in the past few hours

A low-pressure area that moved from Genoa in northern Italy to Eastern Europe quickly caused large amounts of rain.

Record amounts: Where it has rained the most in the past few hours

In any case, the weather situation had calmed down in the disaster areas – according to Kommunikation Steiermark, another municipality in Styria, Gamlitz in southern Styria – had been declared a disaster. The rain fell in Styria into the Oberland, but was not of torrential proportions there. The disaster was determined for the following communities: Paldau, Bad Gleichenberg, Gnas, Straden, in the municipality of Mureck (districts of Gosdorf and Fluttendorf), Leibnitz, Heimschuh (districts of Heimschuh), for Kitzeck in the districts of Fresing and St. Johann (districts of St. Johann and Saggau). The disaster also applied to St. Veit in southern Styria (districts of Seibersdorf, Rabenhof and Neutersdorf), Wagna, Straß, just Gamlitz, Eibiswald (districts of Aibl, Großradl and Pitschgau), Wies (districts of Wies and Wernersdorf) and St. Peter im Sulmtal.

With all the elimination of major damage, the weary firefighters also found time for little help: The members of the Wehr Fladnitz im Raabtal removed a fallen tree on Friday afternoon in the Bachergraben district: Inside the hollow trunk they then discovered three squirrel babies. The three little squirrels were placed in the care of the association “Little Wild Animals in Great Need” in Graz-Mariatrost.