Streams burst their banks

Thousands of firefighters were in action again

Mauerkirchen firefighters transport children through the water in a wheelbarrow(Bild: FF Mauerkirchen)

It was another difficult and busy night for the fire departments throughout Upper Austria. The heavy rainfall caused many streams to burst their banks, for example in Mauerkirchen, where the Mattig and its tributaries caused flooding. There, residents even had to be brought to safety by boat.

220 fire departments with around 3000 firefighters were busy throughout the night with safety, rescue and pumping out work. The Innviertel region was particularly affected this time, especially the village of Mauerkirchen, where a housing estate was flooded and individual houses were evacuated. "There was a very rapid rise in the water level, which had not been predicted. Due to the increasing danger to the people living there, we decided to take this step," says Simon Riffert from the Mauerkirchen fire department.

Residents were rescued by boat in Mauerkirchen(Bild: FF Mauerkirchen)

Nine people even had to be brought to safety in a boat. Those affected were temporarily accommodated in an event center in the community. "Care was organized and provided by the Red Cross and the market town of Mauerkirchen," said Riffert. Over the course of the night, further pumping and safety work was carried out with combined forces, which is still ongoing.

Extensive flooding
In the Mühlviertel, for example, the Pesenbach burst its banks, mainly affecting the village of Mühldorf in Feldkirchen an der Donau. There was also flooding in Pichl bei Wels, where parts of the town center had to be closed off to road traffic after the Innbach burst its banks. The Weilbach also caused problems. In Gunskirchen, the Grünbach caused flooding.

Major damage was prevented
This time there were mudslides in Wallern an der Trattnach, among other places. In Offenhausen, a company site and the area around a sewage treatment plant were flooded. However, major damage was prevented with great effort.

The fire departments also had to carry out massive pumping work at the Hausruck substation in Edt bei Lambach. This successfully prevented a major power outage.

According to the Hydrographic Service, the Danube flood exceeded alert level 1 at Mauthausen during the night in accordance with the emergency plan. However, the water levels on the main Upper Austrian watercourses Salzach, Inn and Danube will continue to rise overall and the peak discharge is not expected to be reached until later in the day.