In Hollabrunn – the city has been considered a disaster area since Saturday – several fire brigades were busy with clean-up work. Helpers were also deployed in the Neunkirchen district, where heavy rain caused flooding on Saturday. After rainfall, the fire brigade was called out to the Mostviertel in the night to Sunday. There were further storm operations in the state on Sunday.
“One of the largest storm operations in the district is coming to an end,” the district command reported in a press release on Sunday. 40 fire departments were alerted on Friday evening, 62 on Saturday and eight on Sunday. In total, over 800 members were deployed with 181 vehicles. “Some worked through, some were on duty for three days, to the limit of their strength,” said district fire commander Alois Zaussinger, who thanked the helpers.
Heavy rainfall caused flooding in the Weinviertel district town on Friday evening. “At first, only the surface water was the problem, but an hour later the water and mud from the Runzenbach, which rolled through Hollabrunn over 100 meters wide, caused far worse damage,” said Deputy District Commander Reinhard Scheichenberger. The mud penetrated the ground floor of residential buildings and in some cases filled the entire basement, the press release said. In the town of Oberfellabrunn alone, 70 properties were covered in mud or flooded. Most of the clean-up work was completed on Saturday, and members of eight fire departments with 14 vehicles were still on duty on Sunday.
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Image: BFKDO Hollabrunn
“The damage is serious,” said Stefan Obritzhauser, commander of the Hohenwarth fire department. For example, a facility for the disabled was flooded and some of the furniture was destroyed. The tennis hall and its outdoor area were also badly affected and had to be cleared of mud. The “Augustwiesn” was evacuated on Friday evening and visitors were taken to the town hall. “Five minor injuries were caused by flying debris and falls,” reported deputy district fire department commander Christian Holzer. 22 horses were rescued from a flooded riding stable and distributed to four stables in the area.
“They were only a few centimeters away from a large-scale power outage” at the Hollabrunn substation, said district fire brigade commander Markus Zahlbrecht, looking back on the operation on Friday evening. The critical situation was defused using large pumps.
Further storms on Saturday hit the Neunkirchen district in particular. In the Gloggnitz area, streams overflowed their banks and numerous cellars and streets were flooded. A car got stuck in a flooded underpass. The city fire department was able to bring the driver to safety unharmed. On Sunday, some clean-up work was still underway, said district commander Josef Huber.
Helpers were also called out in other parts of Lower Austria due to heavy rain. In the Amstetten district, the fire brigade was called out to 16 locations. In Oed, Marktstrasse was flooded. In addition, six cellars had to be pumped out, the district command reported. Trees also had to be removed from the streets.
On Sunday, thunderstorms with wind and sometimes hail swept across Lower Austria. The helpers had to carry out pumping work, remove fallen trees and clean streets. The St. Pölten area, the Waldviertel and Weinviertel were among those affected. The fire brigades also had to be called out again in the Hollabrunn district.
