Trouble in Eastern Styria

Floods: onlookers hinder emergency services

Sebersdorf: The damage was also surveyed using drones - and the extent of the damage was visible.

(Bild: Land Steiermark)

Alongside Graz-Umgebung, the Hartberg-Fürstenfeld district is the second storm hotspot in Styria: there was flooding, bridges were torn away, 7000 drowned turkeys - and trouble with cheeky onlookers. 

You can see that the emergency teams are exhausted: Since 7.55 p.m. on Saturday, many of them have been working tirelessly. So much had happened, so much to do, that it is a miracle they were able to keep track of everything. "Many roads are blocked, muddy or no longer exist at all," said fire department commander Andreas Fuchs, taking stock of the dramatic situation in the Hartberg-Fürstenfeld district.

The hotspots were: Lungitz-, Lafnitz- and Pinkatal, particularly affected Neudau, Schäffern, Burgau, Seibersdorf. In Neudau, the nursing home with 40 residents had to be evacuated and the senior citizens were temporarily hospitalized. The outdoor pool there was also completely submerged in the floods.

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7000 turkeys drowned
Fortunately, the 52 Ukrainian orphans who had found refuge in the region remained unharmed, "we only had a brief power cut", said relieved director Pascale Vayer. The Hackl family in Burgau also had to go out at night to bring around 40 piglets from the pastures to dry land. However, 7000 turkeys from two farms in eastern Styria perished miserably, drowning in the barn, which was one meter under water.

Several bridges were torn away, cellars were flooded and there was no electricity in Schäffern at times. Many households are still inaccessible. The retention basin in Bad Waltersdorf had a technical defect, causing 1000 cubic meters of water to flow out! The flood wave rolled towards Bad Blumau, adding to all the water from above.

The municipality of Schäffern is affected by a widespread power failure. Parts of the municipality cannot be reached at the moment. The local area of Schäffern was only accessible via the A2 on Sunday afternoon.

Several sewage treatment plants (e.g. in St. Johann in der Haide and Sebersdorf) were paralyzed and could not continue to operate, and the fire station of a fire department was also flooded despite all the measures taken.

Governor Christopher Drexler and his deputy Anton Lang joined district governor Kerstin Raith-Schweighofer to take a look at the situation.

(Bild: Land Steiermark )

"Something like this is unheard of"
Up to 1200 firefighters from 80 fire departments are working under high pressure. "All our thanks go to them!" emphasized Governor Christopher Drexler together with Vice Governor Anton Lang, who met with District Governor Kerstin Raith-Schweighofer to discuss the situation.

Worryingly, many onlookers really hindered the work of the emergency services. Christopher Drexler: "Something like this is unheard of!"

The damage is not yet foreseeable - it will reach gigantic dimensions! As a precaution, we have set up an account for those affected. "Die Krone hilft - Steiermark", AT152081500044569523, password "Unwetter2024"