Storm in St. Martin

“We’ve never had a disaster like this here!”

Mayor Franz Silly is very grateful to the firefighters.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/BFVDL/Ferlitsch, Gemeinde St. Martin,)

Storm, hail, masses of water: Severe storms raged in Styria. The municipality of St. Martin im Sulmtal was particularly hard hit. The mayor says: "Every cent invested in the fire department is well spent!"

When the sky over St. Martin im Sulmtal was bright blue again at midday on Saturday, the south-western Styrian municipality was still under the spell of the storm from the previous day. A violent storm covered roofs, hailstones up to eight centimetres in diameter pelted cars and fields, roads were displaced and cellars flooded with water.

"We've never had a disaster like this before," says Mayor Franz Silly. What was striking was how small-scale the storm was. While the storm snapped "ten wonderful old fruit trees" on Silly's property, for example, the head of the village was spared the hail. Elsewhere, it destroyed entire harvests.

Numerous roofs were still sealed on Saturday(Bild: BFVDL/Ferlitsch)

"Nobody asks how long they have to work"
On Friday, more than 170 firefighters were on duty in St. Martin, on Saturday there were still 70. They covered roofs with tarpaulins, cleared roads and gave residents courage. "Nobody asks how long they have to work. Every cent for the fire department is well spent," enthuses Silly.

The storm also hit surrounding communities such as Bad Schwanberg hard on Friday, and the path of destruction stretched as far as Gleinstätten. Initial estimates by the hail insurance company put the damage to Styrian agriculture at just under two million euros.

There is still no sign of the situation calming down: the risk of thunderstorms in the humid air remains high on Saturday and Sunday, and severe storms are still possible on Monday.