Millennium flood:

“The wounds of the flood will take a long time to heal”

Provincial Vice Governor Pernkopf, Provincial Governor Mikl-Leitner, Provincial Fire Brigade Commander Fahrafellner, St. Pölten's Mayor Stadler.

(Bild: NLK/Pfeffer)

Destroyed livelihoods, smashed houses, roads and bridges, broken railroad embankments: after the millennium flood in Lower Austria, the clean-up will take months ...

The province is still in crisis mode because the "clean-up work will take weeks and months", explained Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner yesterday at a briefing in St. Pölten, adding: "And it will take even longer for people's wounds to heal." There had never been a flood of this magnitude before. That is why the disbursement of aid money has been massively increased. "Instead of the previous 20 percent, we can now support flood victims with a 50 percent compensation rate. In cases of hardship, the compensation will even be up to 80 percent. That is a huge help," said Mikl-Leitner. It may not solve all the problems, but it can create hope and prospects.

Fahrafellner (far right) took stock for the fire department: 55,000 firefighters have been deployed in the floods so far.

(Bild: NLK/Pfeffer)

Meanwhile, the clean-up work continues. The situation has eased (somewhat) in many regions and districts. The districts of Tulln, St. Pölten Land and Stadt remain disaster areas. Provincial fire commander Dietmar Fahrafellner emphasized: "In total, around 55,000 colleagues from the volunteer fire department have been deployed in the last few days. An unprecedented deployment of this size in Lower Austria." Last weekend, the focus was on cleaning the ÖBB line between St. Pölten and Vienna, for example, the Perschlingtal tunnel was pumped out and cleaned. The pumping work in Melk was almost completely finished at the weekend, but "the next focus is now on the pumping work in the Tulln district."

Stephan Pernkopf, Vice Provincial Minister, provided information on the current status of the operations: "82,000 people have been deployed so far. Clean-up operations and drinking water supply are currently the main tasks." The Provincial Fire Service Councillor also emphasized the "great neighbourly help from countless volunteers." Around 1500 soldiers from the Austrian Armed Forces were also deployed again yesterday, Monday. This shows the enormous solidarity in Lower Austria.

We went through street by street to find out who needed help.

Matthias Stadler, Bürgermeister von St. Pölten

St. Pölten's mayor Matthias Stadler spoke of "difficult times for the provincial capital". Although the city had "invested many millions in flood protection measures" with the federal and state governments, these had not held up in view of the amount of rainfall. There are currently over 1000 damage reports in St. Pölten. Rapid and comprehensive assistance is important - but also psychological support for victims.

Important tips for necessary flood repairs
Flood victims now need repairs to walls, insulation, heating and electrical installations. Expert tips and directories of specialist companies are now available from the Energy and Environment Agency ENU on 02742/22144.