Thunderstorms over Carinthia

Heavy rainfall and search operation at Lake Wörthersee

The Krumpendorf FF during the search operation

(Bild: Freiwillige Feuerwehr Krumpendorf)

After a number of warnings, fears of severe storms were again widespread in Carinthia on Wednesday. Heavy rainfall with hail and storms caused several fire department operations in the early evening.

The dark storm clouds moved over Carinthia from the west and discharged again over East Tyrol and Upper Carinthia. "The heavy thunderstorms started in the Spittal district, but the Feldkirchen district was also badly affected again. The storms have now reached the east," explained LAWZ manager Hans-Jörg Rossbacher in the evening.

The main problem was the heavy rainfall, sometimes with hail, but there was also damage caused by storms. "Several cellars were flooded and streams burst their banks. The strong wind caused a few trees to fall - onto roads and power lines," Rossbacher continued. "From around 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., the fire departments were alerted to 102 incidents." The fire department was able to intervene quickly at the stream in Kremsbrücke.

1000 households affected by power outages
The thunderstorms also caused two roads to become mired: Ferndorfer Straße between the junction to Weißenstein and Feistritz, and Millstätter Straße between Afritz and Feld am See. In addition, the fallen trees caused power outages - at times a good 1000 households were affected, especially in the Feldkirchen district.

The first fire departments in the Spittal district were able to move back in at around 9 p.m., while they are still in action in the rest of Carinthia. This also applies to Lake Wörthersee, where the Krumpendorf volunteer fire department is carrying out a search operation together with the Klagenfurt professional fire department.

All-clear after search operation
"It was reported that a person with a floating buoy was heading from the Maiernigg lido towards Loretto," explained Daniel Görtz from the professional fire department. "But during the search, nothing was found either on the surface or floating underneath." As there were no reports of missing persons and local residents had not seen anything, the search was called off after just under an hour and the all-clear was given.