Styrian fire departments

“One of the most operational storm years”

Styrian firefighters have had to clear countless fallen trees in the last few days.(Bild: FF Stattegg)

After turbulent days of storms and rain, the situation in Styria is easing again. However, authorities continue to urge caution in nature, especially in forests. This year has been extremely challenging for the Styrian fire departments in terms of storm operations.

After the Styrian fire departments were once again in continuous operation last weekend, they can finally breathe a sigh of relief: "We hardly have any storm-related operations left, now it's the turn of the municipalities and forestry companies," says Thomas Maier from the Styrian Fire Brigade Association. However, the figures from the deployment statistics show the extent of the extreme weather: from Friday to Tuesday, 508 fire services with over 6,000 personnel dealt with more than 2,000 deployments. "This has been one of the busiest storm years since we started keeping records," says Maier.

Power supply restored
Around 120 fitters from Energie Steiermark also had their hands full over the weekend. "Since Tuesday, all Styrian households have been supplied with electricity again," says Energie Steiermark spokesperson Urs Harnik. "However, the final repair work will take a few more days, sometimes weeks."

There is also still a lot of work to be done in the forests, especially in Eastern Styria: "Where infrastructure such as paths are affected, the farmers have already started clearing them. Further processing is also ongoing," explains forestry manager Stefan Zwettler from the Chamber of Agriculture.

"Let common sense prevail"
The State Warning Center continues to appeal to the population to "use common sense and common sense". Caution is advised, especially in riparian areas and in forests where the damage is not yet 100% localized. "Lockdowns must be taken seriously, they were set up for a reason", says Patrick Dorner from the warning center.