Disasters in Europe, Sept 15, 2024.. Incredible amounts of rain, in some cases four
times higher than the average for the whole of September, have led to an extremely dangerous
flood situation in eastern Austria. The entire state of Lower Austria was declared
a disaster area on Sunday morning, and in Vienna the situation was
particularly precarious along the Vienna River and the Danube Canal, but
also along the Liesingbach, for example. After a briefing in Tulln. Several residents
had to be rescued from their homes. Numerous streets were closed. The fire service was
in constant operation. "Unfortunately, we cannot give the all-clear," further
heavy rainfall was forecast. Firefighters and special equipment were requested from
the federal states of Styria, Carinthia, Upper Austria and Burgenland, and an assistance
mission from the Federal Army was initiated. The Federal Army has around 1,000 men available,
according to the Lower Austrian Military Command. Civil defense alarms have been triggered
in several communities. In addition, people should keep themselves informed about
the situation. Deputy Governor said early in the morning that a further 60 liters of rain
per square meter are expected in the next few hours and that there will be further
flooding across the country. On Sunday, the Ottenstein reservoir will reach its storage
capacity. This will lead to a further rise in water levels on the Kamp, and evacuations have
taken place or are underway. It is possible that the flood protection measures will not be
sufficient in some places if the value of a 100-year flood is exceeded. Because the storm
situation has worsened in the past few hours, the State Crisis and Disaster
Management met again at 2 p.m. In Lower Austria, for example, one can assume
that the situation will continue to escalate, he said. "There are major pressure points here,
where we are battling against the water masses and also against the storm." Meteorologists' forecasts
indicate that the situation will not ease until the middle of the week. Nehammer thanked the
emergency services, the volunteers and also the federal army and the police for their efforts.
The cooperation between the federal states is also working very well. It is now also important
to repair the damage as quickly as possible, the Chancellor stressed. This also applies to the
power supply, where outages are still occurring. 1,160 fire brigades with 20,000 members were
deployed in Lower Austria. "We currently have 2,000 missions on the waiting list, and the
number is growing by the minute," stressed state fire brigade commander. The priority is to
save people." So far, 1,100 buildings have been evacuated, it was reported this morning. Small
bodies of water have become raging torrents. In St. Pölten, Europaplatz was flooded, and dams
broke in several districts. In the district of St. Pölten, several bodies of water overflowed
their banks. "The fire brigades are primarily concerned with rescuing people from buildings
or vehicles," including boats and dinghies, the district command said. There were also
power outages. Residents were trapped in several houses. In Markersdorf, four
people were rescued from a building. A low-pressure system named Boris has triggered
days of downpours and rivers have burst their banks from Poland to Romania. More rain and strong
winds are forecast until at least Monday. Some parts of the Czech Republic and Poland faced
the worst flooding in almost three decades, as towns evacuated thousands of residents.
A quarter of a million Czech homes were without power. authorities declared the
province which surrounds the capital, Vienna, a disaster area. A bridge collapsed in the
historic Polish town of Glucholazy near the Czech border. Local media said a house was swept
away and a bridge collapsed in the mountain town of Stronie Slaskie, where a dam burst,
according to the Polish weather institute. Residents footage showed flood waters gushing
through Lipova-lazne and neighbouring Jesenik, damaging some houses and carrying debris.
Lipova-lazne resident Pavel Bily told news the floods were even worse than those
seen in 1997. "My house is under water, and I don't know if I will
even return to it," he said. Police and fire services used a helicopter to
evacuate people stranded in the district. Overall, more than 10,000 people had been evacuated in the
country, the head of the fire service told Czech television. Just across the border in Poland, in
Klodzko county, which Prime Minister Donald Tusk said was the worst-hit area of the country
after meeting officials in the main town. Klodzko town was partly under water as the
local river surpassed record levels recorded in 1997. Officials in nearby Glucholazy ordered
evacuations early on Sunday although efforts to protect the town's infrastructure
failed to prevent the bridge collapse. In the Hungarian capital, Budapest, officials
raised forecasts for the river Danube to rise in the second half of this week to more
than 8.5 metres (27.9 feet), nearing a record of 8.91 metres (29.2 feet) in 2013.
"According to forecasts, one of the biggest floods of the past years is approaching Budapest
but we are prepared to tackle it," mayor said.