Austria (Muhammad Amir Siddique ). The damage after the storms on Monday evening is particularly severe in Pongau and Pinzgau. There were 483 missions nationwide, more than 140 in St. Johann (Pongau) alone. In Dienten (Pinzgau) a bus and a car were swept away. Four people were injured. Heavy storms also hit other parts of Austria.
The voluntary fire brigade in St. Johann was alerted for the first time on Monday at 5:50 p.m., followed by dozens of other emergency calls. In the Reinbach settlement, the Reinbach overflowed its banks and flowed through the settlement, several mudslides went down there – even when the fire fighters were already on duty there. Underground garages were flooded. A civil protection alarm was triggered for the district – everyone should stay on the upper floors. The civil defense alarm was lifted at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday. The firefighters had to bring numerous people to safety in several places around St. Johann, said operations manager Marcel Pfisterer: “We were able to save a total of 90 people from the masses of water. In Wagrain, several cars were cut off by two mudslides. In our morgue, about 30 people were trapped by the water during a funeral event. Such an operation is never without – but it is not without risk for the fire brigade. The rescue operation for the cars that were trapped by the mudslides on Wagrainer Straße (B163) was even greater: the police, water rescue, fire brigade, Red Cross and mountain rescue had a total of 84 people – including small children – cut off the rubble and mud Rescue vehicles. A car was swept away by a mudslide, and the three occupants were able to save themselves unharmed. All trapped people were brought to safety and cared for in the St. Johann congress center. The extent of the damage in Pongau – in addition to St. Johann, Wagrain, Flachau and Schwarzach were also affected – cannot yet be foreseen. In St. Johann-Alpendorf, for example, the road to Grossarl von Muren was relocated. The center of Wagrain was also partially under water after mudslides – floods were also reported from Altenmarkt. In Flachau, the exit from the Tauern Autobahn (A10) had to be closed due to a mudslide. It is only in daylight that it becomes clear how many areas are affected by the storm. In any case, the emergency services in Pongau will be busy cleaning up for days. There was also damage in Pinzgau: In Dienten, a bus and a car were hit by the masses of water and torn into the Dientenbach. The bus was trapped under a bridge. Two people on the bus were rescued by the fire brigade and water rescue team. The 21-year-old driver of the car was able to free herself. Three inmates and one emergency worker were injured, two of them seriously. Two injured were rescued from the helicopter and flown to the hospital. Another car – the car of a German vacationing family – was trapped between two mudslides near Dienten. The five inmates were brought to safety. A sawmill in Dienten was also badly damaged by a mudslide. In Wald im Pinzgau, mudslides again went onto the Krimmler Landesstraße (L113) and the Gerlos-Bundesstraße (B165), where Krimml was cut off. The area around the Krimml train station, which is located in the municipality of Wald, was also evacuated in the evening. Nationwide, 52 fire brigades with a total of 1,402 men were in action on Monday evening. They had to move out to 483 damaged areas. The Salzach had reached threatening water levels in Mittersill (Pinzgau) during the night, said the Pinzgau disaster control officer Manfred Pongruber Tuesday morning: “The water levels rose rapidly until midnight, but then, thank God, they noticeably decreased when the rain stopped at around 11pm / 11.30pm. As a result, there was no major flooding in the areas that were so severely damaged in mid-July. The water levels are falling. I think the weather will stabilize over the next few days, so that we can also count on relaxation from this side. In the morning, Pongruber made a complete picture of the situation in Pinzgau by helicopter with representatives of the regional geological service and the torrent and avalanche control. Reconnaissance flights are also planned in Pongau. Storm operations in many parts of Austria. Partly heavy rain and storms again caused fire brigades to be deployed in parts of Austria on Monday afternoon and evening. Affected included the Lower Austrian districts of Baden, Mödling, Amstetten, Melk, Tulln, St. Poelten. In Upper Austria, too, many firefighters had to move out because of storms. Here met heavy rain Gmunden, Kremsmünster, Bad Hall, parish churches in Bad Hall and Wolfern with full force. There were a total of 273 missions in Tyrol. According to the state fire brigade association, 97 fire brigades were alerted. The focus was initially in the eastern low mountain range near Innsbruck. Damage was also reported from the Zillertal, Landeck, Ötztal and Pitztal. The storm front also moved across Styria and caused fire brigades to be deployed in the Liezen district in particular. A number of trees blocked streets, buildings and underpasses were also under water.
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