Town under water

Hailstorm caused houses and cars to sink

A local storm flooded houses, one cellar was a meter under water.(Bild: Freiwillige Feuerwehr Zwettl Stadt)

A local thunderstorm cell left houses in a small village in the Waldviertel (Lower Austria) one meter under water. A car also had to be freed from the mud. The material damage is enormous.

It was shortly before 5 p.m. on Monday when the heavens opened their floodgates over the small village of Böhmhöf in Zwettl. The consequences were devastating for some residents. A small stream had turned into a raging river, which also made its way into residential buildings.

One car got stuck in a ditch while looking for shelter from the hail.(Bild: Freiwillige Feuerwehr Zwettl Stadt)

Although the fire department was quickly on the scene, the level of the originally small rivulet rose even faster. Despite the arrival of firefighters from neighboring departments, it was not possible to prevent the water from entering the buildings. A residential building was flooded, as was the cellar of the neighboring house, which was one meter under water. Nobody was injured, but according to the emergency services, there was considerable damage to property. The fire department pumped out the masses of water together with several volunteers.

Level of another stream rose rapidly
People who live near the nearby Sierningbach stream were also shivering. Its water level also rose sharply. The Florianis were also on site here, but fortunately it was not necessary to intervene.

Car driver in distress
The situation was quite different on the LB 36 towards Zwettl. There, numerous drivers were surprised by the sudden onset of the hailstorm. To protect their cars, some of them drove into a wooded area. One driver overlooked a ditch in the already completely soaked area and her car crashed. However, the fire department was able to rescue the car and the woman was even able to continue her journey.