One dead: Dramatic situation in Carinthia and Salzburg
The 82-year-old man may have been surprised by a debris flow in the center of Treffen. Auxiliary teams with search dogs searched the area and were able to find the man’s body at noon, as district captain Bernd Riepan confirmed to ORF. There is still no sign of the missing driver, who reported to the state alarm and warning center at 4:00 a.m. and said that he was trapped in Klamm between the mudflows – more on that in kaernten.ORF.at.
In meetings, civil defense alert applies as well as in the included Arriach. People have been instructed to stay at home and seek shelter there. The danger from torrential streams is very great. In the Laastadt district of Arriach, a slope threatened to slide, houses were evacuated and the residents brought to safety. The state road that leads through the area to Arriach has been completely torn down in several places. The municipality of Arriach is currently cut off from the outside world, it can neither be reached from Himmelberg nor from Treffen – more on this in kaernten.ORF.at.
Fire brigades in continuous operation
In addition to Carinthia, the situation in Salzburg’s Lungau is also dramatic. Since Tuesday evening, the heavy rain has called for the fire brigades. The civil defense alarm was also raised in Tamsweg in the morning. The Leißnitzbach threatens to overflow its banks because alluvial wood could block the flow, and the lower market area in particular is at risk. The population is asked to stay in their houses, not to enter underground garages and cellars and to stay away from banks and bridges – more on this in salzburg.ORF.at.
An easing of the situation is not in sight: According to the ORF weather department, there may be further storms with heavy rain and hail in Salzburg, in Upper Austria, in the Waldviertel and Mostviertel and in Styria. Further flooding and mudslides are also threatening in Carinthia.
Record-breaking rainfall
In the past twelve hours there has been 117 liters of precipitation in Arriach. That is quickly as much as would otherwise fall within a whole month, said Gerhard Hohenwarter from the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG) in Klagenfurt. According to ZAMG, there has never been such a large amount of rain in such a short time since the start of measurements at the respective weather station. Measurements have been taken in Villach since 1930, on the Flattnitz since 1971 and in Arriach since 1990. Statistically, one can speak of an event that can be expected approximately every 100 years, explains Hohenwarter.
Heavy storm in Carinthia
Carinthia was hit by severe thunderstorms for the second time in a short space of time. Heavy damage was done.
For the neighboring valley, Johannes Moser from the Hydrographic Service speaks of a “hundred-year flood”: “The level of the Afritzer Bach in the desert corresponded to that of a thirty-year flood at around 3 a.m. It could even be a little more.” Similar amounts of water also came about at the Treffnerbach in Töbring and the Afritzer Bach. “In addition, there was a significant escalation of the level. I am therefore inclined to say that it was a hundred-year flood.”
Upper Austria also affected again
Upper Austria was also hit by the storms. This time, the Hausruckviertel was particularly affected in the evening and at night, but the fire brigades also had to move out in Linz and in the districts of Linz-Land, Schärding and in the Mühlviertel – more on ooe.ORF.at.