Large hailstones

Severe storms make Lower Austria unsafe

Symbolic image

(Bild: Einsatzdoku.at)

Severe thunderstorms hit Lower Austria again on Friday afternoon. Large hailstones made the area unsafe and numerous emergency calls were reported.

Hundreds of emergency services were deployed: thunderstorms, hail and storms mainly hit the districts in the west of the province, reported Klaus Stebal from the provincial fire brigade command.

Around 5 p.m., around 180 fire departments were called out. Stebal spoke of 270 operations, particularly in Amstetten, Melk and Scheibbs. The storm front had brought heavy rain and hail and had moved on towards the central region.

In the market town of Wang (Scheibbs district), roofs were also destroyed by hail, as was Ertl (Amstetten district), according to Wolfgang Zarl from the district fire brigade command. He spoke of four to five centimeter hailstones. There was also heavy rain and massive lightning.

Trees fell onto the road
According to the district fire brigade command, the Amstetten area alarm center (BAZ) has increased its staff due to numerous emergency calls. Kematen, Waidhofen a. d. Ybbs and Ertl were among those affected by the storm. Emergency services throughout the district did their best. Cellars and buildings - including a bank branch - had to be pumped out, trees removed from roads and blockages in streams cleared.

There were also storm-related fire department operations in the Waldviertel region. The helpers were deployed in Groß-Siegharts and Dietmanns (Waidhofen a. d. Thaya district), in Allentsteig and Göpfritz a. d. Wild (Zwettl district) and in Heidenreichstein (Gmünd district).