1 dead in severe storm in Styria and Lower Austria

An excavator driver wanted to dredge a flooded stream in the Leoben district when the machine tipped over and the 36-year-old died. Around 5,000 hectares of agricultural crops were affected by heavy rain and hail, the Austrian Hail Insurance Company announced on Friday evening.

The 36-year-old Croatian from Leoben had been working with an excavator in the area of ​​the flooded Trollinggrabenbach. The machine probably sank into the loose rubble. The excavator tilted and tipped sideways into the stream. The 36-year-old was trapped underwater in the driver’s cab. A work colleague tried to rescue him from the driver’s cab, but this was unsuccessful due to the strong current of the stream. It was only after another excavator was deployed to lift the overturned machine that the 36-year-old could be rescued after about 20 minutes. The man was immediately resuscitated and taken to the Leoben Regional Hospital. However, he died there at around 10 p.m., as the Styrian State Police Directorate announced on Saturday.

• More on the topic: Surprised by the storm: Two people rescued from distress at Lake Faak

Total damage of 2.7 million euros

According to initial surveys by hail insurance experts, the heavy storms that had been forecast caused total agricultural damage of 2.7 million euros. The districts of Leibnitz and Deutschlandsberg in Styria and the district of Waidhofen an der Thaya in Lower Austria were affected. In Styria, 3,500 hectares of agricultural land were affected by the storms, with damage amounting to 1.9 million euros. In Lower Austria, the figure was 1,500 hectares, and the insurance company put the damage at 800,000 euros.

In western Styria, a storm with gusts of wind caused hailstones several centimetres in size to fall over a large area – especially over the Deutschlandsberg district. The greater St. Martin im Sulmtal area was particularly hard hit, with numerous roofs being destroyed. The result was fallen trees, small mudslides and, above all, roofs that were uncovered or damaged by hail. 20 fire brigades with 230 men were deployed until late at night, 173 of whom were in St. Martin alone. Turntable ladders and cranes were needed, as well as rescue and fall protection teams, to cover the roofs with tarpaulins and thus protect the houses from rainwater penetrating, according to the district fire brigade association.

• Read also: Flooding: Danube locks closed again after only a few hours (OÖNplus)

Disaster relief train alerted

The GKB railway line in Dietmannsdorf in the municipality of St. Martin was blocked by a tree that had fallen onto the overhead line. The St. Martin maypole also had to be felled because it had been damaged in the storm. A disaster relief train was called out on Saturday and continued the safety work during daylight hours.

In Kapfenberg in Upper Styria (Bruck-Mürzzuschlag district), a shopping center was under water as a result of heavy rain during a thunderstorm in the afternoon. Parts of the sales area were flooded. The water was sucked out using a wet vacuum cleaner, the Kapfenberg fire department announced. The emergency services had to expand their activities while the pumping was still in progress. Several trees had fallen onto a power line. The tree trunks were cleared away and the lines were repaired by specialists.

“Meteorologists’ forecasts continue to indicate a high risk of severe weather over the weekend,” warned the spokesman for the Austrian Hail Insurance Company in a press release on Friday evening.