In the Rhine Valley, the storm was so severe that trees snapped, roofs were covered and many streets were flooded due to blocked drains. Within a few minutes, over 30 liters of rain per square meter fell in many places. Hailstones turned streets and meadows white, and as the rain continued, garages, cellars, underpasses and streets were submerged in water.

Tree fell on car in Dornbirn
The worst affected areas were Bregenz, Lustenau and the Rhine delta. However, the emergency services were also kept busy in the south of the country, for example in Feldkirch. 

In the market town in the Dornbirn district, a tree fell onto a car. The occupants of the car escaped with a shock, but were taken to Dornbirn hospital by ambulance for safety reasons.

Total damage of 1.2 million euros
The damage to Vorarlberg's agricultural sector caused by the storm is likely to be considerable. Total damage in the "Ländle" is expected to amount to around 1.2 million euros. In the districts of Dornbirn, Bregenz and Feldkirch, more than 5,000 hectares of agricultural land - mainly maize, potatoes and grassland - were "literally devastated" in places.

Meanwhile, a peak discharge of around 1000 cubic meters of water per second was expected on the Rhine on Saturday morning. The public is asked not to stay near the Rhine so as not to hinder the work of the emergency services. "Also for reasons of personal safety, Rhine dams, foreland and especially the inner weirs should be avoided," it said.

Several roads in Tyrol open again
In Tyrol, some of the roads that had been blocked by mudslides following heavy rainfall on Thursday evening were reopened to traffic on Saturday morning. For example, the Reschenstraße (B180) between Pfunds and Ried im Oberinntal was reopened to traffic in both directions, the state announced on Saturday morning. The Oberinntalstraße (L65) and the Villgratentalstraße remained closed.

Clean-up work still underway
In Lower Austria, the storms caused 360 call-outs. The districts of Melk, Amstetten and Scheibbs were particularly affected, said Klaus Stebal from the provincial fire department command. 200 fire departments with "hundreds of firefighters" were deployed. Clean-up work was still underway in some districts on Saturday.

In the districts of Scheibbs and Amstetten, some roofs were destroyed by hail. Hurricane-like storms and enormous amounts of precipitation also caused fire department operations in the Waldviertel.

Agriculture was also affected by the hailstorm once again. In the districts of Amstetten, Gmünd, Melk, Scheibbs, St. Pölten, Waidhofen an der Thaya and in Waidhofen an der Ybbs, damage amounting to 900,000 euros was caused to arable crops and grassland, according to hail insurance.

Disaster in Styria
In Styria, almost 190 fire departments with around 1500 firefighters have been deployed since Thursday afternoon with around 700 alarms, according to the Styrian Fire Brigade Association. A state of disaster was declared by the Voitsberg district administration for the western Styrian municipalities of Edelschrott, Maria Lankowitz, Krottendorf-Gaisfeld, St. Martin am Wöllmißberg and the municipality of Voitsberg.

"Tree on car, tree on roof, ..."
Another storm front, which moved away relatively quickly, caused massive flooding in the Voitsberg, Knittelfeld and Judenburg areas on Friday afternoon, as well as in the Murau and Mürzzuschlag areas in some places. The stormy wind uprooted and snapped trees: "Tree on car, tree on roof, tree on power line, roof damaged, loose roof tiles" - these were the reports that came into the regional control center every second. The situation only gradually eased shortly after 7 pm.

Thunderstorm also paralyzed train services
The flooding and fallen trees had blocked the Graz-Köflacher Railway (GKB) and the Southern Railway. The railroad line between Söding-Mooskirchen and Köflach is expected to be interrupted until Monday (July 15) due to storm damage. Fallen trees between Neumarkt in der Steiermark and Friesach in Carinthia also destroyed the overhead lines of the Southern Railway. In the evening hours, trains were prevented from continuing their journeys at Unzmarkt and Friesach stations. More than 200 people were transported from Friesach to Unzmarkt by ÖBB buses, and more than 300 people waited up to four hours for their onward journey at Unzmarkt station itself. 

Young female driver injured by tree
In the Judenburg area in the Upper Styrian district of Murtal, a young woman was injured when a tree fell on her car, according to the fire department. The road over the Sölk Pass, which is over 1700 meters above sea level, was closed between Baierdorf and St. Nikolai due to a landslide. The same applied to the B70 in the direction of Voitsberg in western Styria between Gaisfeld and Krems due to storm damage and downed trees. A 27-year-old firefighter was injured by a falling tree here on Friday.

Several people in distress
In Carinthia, the fire departments had to continue the clean-up work from Thursday on Friday morning, when in the afternoon partly strong winds caused numerous trees to fall again and further thunderstorm cells unloaded over the entire province. The strong storm led to many water rescue and fire department operations, particularly at Lake Faak, Lake Wörthersee and Lake Keutschach. Many swimmers, stand-up paddlers and surfers were unable to reach the shore due to the strong waves and were brought to safety by boat.

Clean-up operations on Saturday
The Carinthian fire departments had to deal with around 250 storm operations on Friday, with a total of 151 fire brigades deployed. Saturday will be dominated by clean-up operations, especially in the Lavanttal valley, according to the provincial fire department.

According to experts from GeoSphere Austria, there were 190,000 lightning discharges on Friday. In addition, storm gusts of 111 km/h were measured in Zeltweg and 97 km/h in Graz. 

Renewed risk of thunderstorms in the south-east
On Saturday and Sunday, the heatwave will temporarily pause in large parts of the country, with temperatures mostly reaching 21 to 28 degrees. However, temperatures around or just above 30 degrees will continue in the south, south-east and east of the country. Fortunately, the thunderstorms are over for the time being, with only the risk of heavy thunderstorms in the south-east of the country for the last time on Saturday.

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