Floods: Slight all-clear in Upper Austria

The forecasts have come true: In contrast to Bavaria, there was no major flood damage in Upper Austria. During the night, the Inn and Salzach reached their peaks, and on Sunday morning the Hydrographic Service reported constant to slightly declining trends for these two rivers.

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“The Bavarian Danube is still showing rising trends and water levels, and this will remain the case for the next few days. However, according to forecasts, the all-clear has been given for today, as little precipitation is expected. We are expecting another wave until the middle of the week, a so-called transit flood,” says Christian Wakolbinger from the Hydrographic Service. However, from today’s perspective, there is unlikely to be any major damage here either. “Everything else depends on precipitation,” stresses Wakolbinger.

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Mobile flood protection set up

Due to isolated thunderstorms, there may also be small-scale flooding in Upper Austria on Sunday. In Linz, the first part of the mobile flood protection was already set up as a precaution in Alturfahr on Saturday morning. On Sunday morning, the water level was 5.18 meters.

To put it into perspective: If the water level reached 6.80 meters, the Danube would overflow its banks in the Alturfahr-West area and at the fairgrounds. At the beginning of the week, the water level was a good 400 centimeters, a preliminary warning was issued at 550 centimeters, and the highest level in June 2013 was 927 centimeters.

“Night was quiet”

A rise of over five metres was expected for Schärding during the night, which is why the Inn river was closed and the gates to the old town were closed with mobile flood barriers. The forecasts came true. “The peak was around midnight, the Inn rose to more than five metres, but the water level is currently falling again,” says Schärding’s fire chief Markus Furtner. On Sunday (8 a.m.) the hydrographic service reported a water level of 4.71 metres for the Inn. However, the mobile flood protection will remain in place as a precaution, says Furtner. “The water level could rise again, but to a lesser extent. That’s why we will wait to clean the silted Inn river and dismantle the flood protection,” says the fire chief. However, he does not expect any more major damage. “It only becomes critical for us when the water level reaches six metres; the peak was just over five metres during the night,” says the Schärdinger.