The blackout in the Murtal is over and there has been electricity again since Sunday evening. The damage runs into the millions and work is ongoing. Children had no school on Monday due to the snow.
No electricity, no cell phone network, blocked roads and rails: At the weekend, the onset of winter brought chaos in Upper Styria, especially in the Murau and Murtal districts. On Sunday evening the lights came back on after around 30 hours – but it took until Monday morning for the Heaters had started again. “The priority was to make kindergartens and compulsory schools warm again,” says Judenburg mayor Elke Florian. The temperature also slowly climbed back up in the swimming pool and in the municipal office. “From Tuesday, normal operations will be back everywhere.” The employees of the construction yard still had to fell a few trees that had snapped. Lessons from the short blackout Florian’s initial assessment of the blackout weekend is positive: “The work of the city fire department was essential.” Most of them Judenburgers also appear to have been well equipped; out of 10,000 residents, only a maximum of 20 people needed acute help. Nevertheless, the mayor is drawing lessons from the situation. “In the future, we as a community want to create a heat island for people who have nowhere else to go, for example with babies. Information in the event of a crisis will be available on our display boards.”Although there was “snow-free” in the Murau and Murtal districts on Monday, 90 percent of the students came to their classes, according to the education directorate. “The schools are optimally prepared to be able to deal with such cases flexibly, so that there are no disadvantages for those who have to stay away from school.” From Tuesday everything will be back to normal. The chaos on the streets has now also been cleared up, everyone is back freely navigable. The trains are also rolling through the whole of Styria again. And as far as electricity is concerned: According to Energie Steiermark, the work on the broken electricity pylon will take weeks and cost millions. However, households no longer notice any of this. Increased danger of avalanchesAfter the snowfall, great caution should be exercised in the event of avalanches. The snowdrift accumulations were particularly worrying above the tree line (around 2000 meters). Because the snow cover has hardened and is very compact due to the recent warm phases and the rain, up to half a meter of new snow fell over the weekend. In the transition from the warm snow cover foundation to the cold new and blown snow, a weak layer can form over time. Slab avalanches can therefore be triggered by even the slightest additional load, emphasize the experts from the Steiermark Avalanche Warning Service.
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