Floods in Lower Austria
Despite enormous damage: “Giving up is not an option”
Böheimkirchen in the district of St. Pölten is one of the places that was hit particularly hard by the flood: Now the clean-up has begun. The "Krone" got a picture on site.
"Stick together and get to work" is the motto at the moment. Now that the water has receded, the big clean-up has begun. Cellars have to be emptied and damage assessed. There is great solidarity among the people. "Now the work begins," explains the Zoka-Svoboda family.
The operators of the "Smart Liv'in" hotel acted quickly in the hours of need. Cars from the neighboring housing estate were given shelter in the parking lot and the rooms were made available free of charge to flood victims.
"Some have lost everything," says junior manager Christian. One woman was only able to save herself with the wet clothes on her body. In the hours that followed, the main task was to comfort those affected. After all, it will probably be many weeks before the devastation caused by Sunday's flood in Böheimkirchen has been cleaned up.
From the heating to the server to the warehouse - the damage is not yet foreseeable. But luckily we still have a home.
Viktoria Anzenberger, Glaserei Anzenberger in Böheimkirchen
Bild: Molnar Attila/Attila Molnar
As if out of nowhere, unbridled floods surprised the 5200-strong community in the district of St. Pölten. "The water came from three sides at the same time", describes a resident of the Eichbachsiedlung during the local inspection of the "Krone". The "mountains of garbage" are piled up in front of the houses. "We've never seen anything like it. Everything is broken," says Evelyn Sturzeis as she transports her waterlogged belongings from the depths of the cellar.
It's just terrible, everything is gone. But people are helping together, there is great solidarity. The soccer club is also helping.
Evelyn Sturzeis, Anrainerin in der Eichenbach-Siedlung in Böheimkirchen
Bild: Molnar Attila/Attila Molnar
They were already hit by the floods here in 2002 - back then they got off lightly. "This time we could only watch, anything else would have been life-threatening," says a neighbor. "It came like a raging river from all sides. There were countless dead pigs floating in the middle of it, it was just awful," recalls Sturzeis. The animals were swept away by the flood from a nearby farm and killed.
Viktoria and Peter Anzenberger cannot yet put a figure on the damage. Their glazing business was hit hard by the floods. "Suddenly there were sirens wailing everywhere, you get scared. We fled to the upper floor," says the company boss. Next year, the company will be celebrating its 150th anniversary: "Giving up is not an option," says Anzenberger, looking confidently to the future. "There are many who have been hit far worse," is the tenor among those affected.
The pumps are roaring incessantly. Countless cellars have to be emptied after the devastating storms of the past few days. The all-important question in these hours is: where to put all the water? Because the floors and sewers are full. "Now the real catastrophe is just beginning", explains Thomas N. He and his family are among those suffering in Pottenbrunn in St. Pölten, which was badly affected by the floods.
The 33-year-old was able to bring his grandparents to safety from the floods on Sunday. "I carried them out myself. The water kept rising. It was like filling a bathtub. The whole district was just one big lake," says the man, describing what happened.
What happens now? "The water was 70 centimeters high. The house is uninhabitable and probably can't be saved," says the 33-year-old. An absolute drama for his 80-year-old grandparents.
Around 80 firefighters are still working the day after. "It's a state of emergency. We arrived from Neunkirchen at five o'clock this morning to help," explains incident commander Johann Hödl. A street away, comrades from Salzburg are supporting the local Florianis. But as long as the groundwater doesn't sink, they are fighting a losing battle.
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
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