Eyewitness stunned

“We’ve never experienced anything like this before”

Helmut Fahrner, senior manager of Hotel Schindler, spoke to the "Krone" about the storm in his village.

(Bild: Christian Forcher)

Helmut Fahrner, senior manager of the Hotel Schindler right next to the Steißbach, describes the dramatic minutes on Friday. In his opinion, the town got off lightly.

"All of a sudden there was such a rumble, huge stones came with the Steißbach, the bridge literally shook." Helmut Fahrner has already experienced the storms that caused devastating damage in 1999 and 2005, but the elemental force of Friday's natural disaster was completely new, even for him.

Flood wave raced down
The flood wave suddenly raced down through the obstructed Steißbach stream into the upper village. "It must have backed up somewhere, then it all broke loose at once," suspects Fahrner in an interview with the "Krone".

If the Steißbach had backed up at the bridge next to us, the mudslide would probably have rolled down through the village after a few minutes.

Helmut Fahrner, Seniorchef Hotel Schindler, St. Anton

"The village got off lightly"
His hotel was hit in 2005, but this time he got off lightly. "The whole village got off lightly," he believes and provides the reason for this: "If the Steißbach had blocked the bridge next to us, the mudslide would probably have rolled down through the village after a few minutes."

Heavy weather at high altitude
In his opinion, it must have been a powerful thunderstorm with hail at great heights. From the Galzig, from the so-called Schweinströgen and the Schindlerkar, material probably erupted from steep flanks and fell into the Steißbach valley. The material then rolled down to St. Anton and caused the devastation.

Storm cell did not move
From the Ulmer Hütte, which is located just over the border on the Vorarlberg side of the Arlberg, he learned that it had rained non-stop between 5 and 9 pm. "As you can see on the weather channels, the storm cell stayed in the same spot for a long time."