All over Carinthia – thunderstorms with heavy rain resulted in 45 missions


Carinthia’s fire brigades had to be deployed 45 times on Sunday afternoons for storm operations: squalls had uprooted trees, and cellars were under water after creeks were blocked.

Partly violent thunderstorms moved across large parts of Carinthia on Sunday. Especially in the districts of Spittal, Hermagor, Feldkirchen and Wolfsberg, the fire brigades had to move out because of floods and fallen trees that blocked driveways and roads. “Squalls had uprooted trees, and cellars were under water after creeks were blocked,” says a firefighter. Only the cities of Villach, Klagenfurt and St. Veit were largely spared from the storm. In the night from Sunday to Monday the weather calmed down again. The Carinthian state alarm and warning center recorded a total of 45 missions.

At Lake Wörthersee, a family from Styria got into distress with a sailing boat. The 45-year-old father wanted to moor the seven-meter-long boat to a buoy because of the storm, but it was drifted away because of the strong waves. Passers-by watched the incident from the bank and sounded the alarm. The water rescue team then hauled the boat ashore. The 45-year-old was slightly injured during the sailing maneuver, his wife and his 11-year-old daughter were uninjured.

At the Ossiacher See, emergency services were also deployed: A witness had sounded the alarm and stated that a person on a small boat was in distress. Fire service divers and divers of the water rescue then searched the area of ​​the Ossiachersee in question. Water lifeboats, the police boat and the Libelle Carinthia police helicopter were in action. In the evening the search was stopped after neither an abandoned boat was found nor a missing person report was received.