Wörthersee-Strandbad in Klagenfurt will remain closed for the time being

The situation in the southern Austrian flood areas continued to slowly relax until Wednesday. In the morning, the civil defense warning for the Klagenfurt district of Viktring was lifted. Civil defense warnings were still upheld in the communities of Keutschach (Klagenfurt-Land), Globasnitz, Neuhaus (Völkermarkt district) and Lavamünd (Wolfsberg district). A nursing home in Kaindorf an der Sulm in southern Styria had to be evacuated again.

“It will take days”

Cellars are still being pumped out in Klagenfurt, and the groundwater level was still very high. The Wörthersee east bay with the Klagenfurt lido was now navigable again. The closed road was reopened on Wednesday morning, the lido and the Lorettobad will remain closed for the time being. The levels of the Glan and the Gurk continued to decline, even though both rivers in the Klagenfurt area were still flooded. When asked by APA, Wolfgang Germ from the professional fire brigade said that 80 operations were still open in Klagenfurt. Some underground garages are still flooded, as well as numerous basements. It will take days, the last meeting of the crisis team is planned for Sunday evening.

Video: Clean up after the flood

Worry about dam bursting in Viktring

Rain was forecast again for Wednesday. The emergency services in Carinthia are hoping for low levels of precipitation and, if possible, no new problems. Germ is demanding a massive reinforcement of the dam at the Treimischer Teich above Viktring from politicians. The dam threatened to collapse over the weekend. “At the foot of the dam the water has come.” The entire district, including the monastery, would have been affected by a dam breach. An evacuation of the entire district was discussed, said Germ.

mudslides and boulders

The assistance mission of the federal army in Carinthia continued with 130 soldiers and two helicopters. Exploration and transport tasks were processed, said a spokesman. A temporary bridge in Neuhaus is expected to be completed on Wednesday, and localities on the Motschulaberg can then be reached again by land. Work on a 50-ton ferry across the Drau to bring heavy equipment to the cut-off village of Unterguntschach is expected to last until the end of the week. Since Tuesday, Unterbergen near Völkermarkt has been cleared of mudslides and debris using heavy pioneering equipment.

towns without drinking water

In southern Styria, the clean-up work is also continuing, but in several towns there is currently no fresh drinking water due to dirty wells. In the towns of Lichendorf, Oberschwarza, Unterschwarza and Weitersfeld an der Mur, the groundwater was largely contaminated by the flooding. With 65 households, Lichendorf is hardest hit. Drinking water can only be obtained there from fresh water that has been delivered. Coca-Cola Austria has now donated 2,000 liters of mineral water to support the short-term supply. The Red Cross organized transport and delivery. The mineral water, filled in 1.5-liter bottles, was handed over by the Red Cross to Reinhold Höflechner, Mayor of the municipality of Straß, on Wednesday morning at the forecourt of the Lichendorf volunteer fire brigade. A drinking water distribution point for the population was set up.

More rain showers forecast

In addition to the four villages in the former municipality of Murfeld, other households in Styria are also affected by the cut off water supply, but according to Harald Eitner, head of the state’s disaster control department, these are isolated cases. He looked with concern at the weather report on Wednesday morning: In the afternoon, shower-like precipitation was again approaching in the areas that were already badly affected. “25 millimeters per square meter are forecast, that doesn’t sound like that much, but with fully saturated soils they can reignite sliding activity.”

Video: The Carinthian civil protection officer in the ORF

Nursing home evacuated again

The nursing home in Kaindorf an der Sulm, which had already been evacuated over the weekend, had to be evacuated again because the groundwater got back into the basement and the machines installed there for the operation of the home could not be activated. Around 25 residents are affected.

Von der Leyen spoke up

EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen reported on Twitter that she had informed Chancellor Karl Nehmanner (ÖVP) about the situation in the Carinthian and Styrian disaster areas. “Respect for the people affected and the tireless rescue workers. And a big thank you to Austria for offering help to its neighbors who were also affected. That is European solidarity!”

Two army helicopters have been operating from Klagenfurt in Slovenia since Wednesday. In coordination with the crisis coordination of the Slovenian armed forces, they are conducting reconnaissance flights in the Dravograd-Mežica-Črna na Koroškem region, which was particularly hard hit by the storm. In addition, urgently needed goods such as food, medicine and drinking water are to be flown to cut-off towns.