On Friday evening, Chancellor Karl Neuhammer held a conference with experts in the Federal Chancellery and interacted with Interior Minister Herhard Garner and Defense Minister Claudia Tanner (both ÖVP). “Almost all the federal states are currently affected by heavy rains and sometimes snowfall. So it will be an enormous challenge for all the emergency services, civil defence, police and armed forces to help where support is needed,” the Chancellor said.
On Saturday afternoon there will be a briefing between the State Crisis and Disaster Management (SKKM) and State Control Centers in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Projections tightened
In Lower Austria, forecasts for expected rainfall have increased. “The situation has worsened. We now expect 300 liters of rain per square meter and hurricane-like winds,” said LH Vice President Stephan Pernkopf (ÖVP) after a conference in Tulln on Friday. The fire brigade had already registered several operations and preparations are still underway – noe. More on this at ORF.at.
Ten to 15-year floods are expected along the Danube, with Bernkop warning that 100-year floods could occur in some places. Overall, he spoke of “a critical situation for the entire country” at the conference, which was attended by state governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner (ÖVP) and experts from the state warning center and the state fire brigade association.
Snow covered streets in Styria
The sudden onset of winter has resulted in snow-covered roads in Styria. As winter tires are not yet mandatory, many road users have already been surprised by icy roads, despite the forecast.
As part of the preparatory work, mobile flood defense systems are being erected, sandbags are being filled and retention areas are being created. For example, EVN drained water from the camp and created buffer storage. Flood defenses have been greatly expanded since 2002, Bernkopf emphasized. However, “extreme caution is warranted”.
Air travelers should expect delays: “There are currently isolated delays in flights from and to various European destinations and Vienna due to the current bad weather,” Vienna Airport in Schwechat said. Passengers were advised to check the status of their booked flights on the airport website or with airlines.
No relief until Tuesday
In general, as of now, relief is not expected until Tuesday, although there are large differences regionally and even on a smaller scale. Before that, floods and mudslides and snowfall in higher areas can cause problems for roads, rail links and electricity. The tension will subside only on Tuesday.
From Thursday evening, ÖBB advises people to avoid non-essential journeys due to expected train cancellations and delays. The City of Vienna advises all residents to avoid travel and errands as much as possible due to the expected wind and heavy rain.
Vienna expects the Danube to flood
Rain intensified in Vienna on Friday. The city was preparing for the Danube to flood. The city of Vienna’s flood protection staff is ready for any eventuality – about it at wien.ORF.at.
Several events have already been canceled due to the weather, including the famous “Aufsteirern” festival in Graz, the Star Night from the Wachau, the Wachau Marathon and football games – more on this at steiermark.ORF.at and noe.ORF. at.
Snow can reduce the risk of flooding
In Upper Austria, preparations are underway for a weekend of heavy rain, which could particularly affect the south of the state. Primarily localized flooding is expected. According to the hydrographic service of the state, the drop in temperature can have a positive effect, because the precipitation sometimes falls as snow at low altitudes and therefore does not initially raise the river level – about it at ooe.ORF.at.
Many problems on Styrian roads
In Styria, which has already been hit by storms several times this year, snow and rain caused many problems, especially on high mountain roads. Chains were compulsory in the Mariasel, Highflav area, Llanceattle, Caperle and Niederalph areas. As winter tires are not yet mandatory, road users were surprised by snowy roads despite the warnings – for example in Schönchattel in Fischbach, the fire brigade had to be sent for rescue operations – more on this at steiermark.ORF.at.
Mure Blocks Rail Link
Train service between Friedberg in Styria and Aspang-Mark in Lower Austria was suspended due to a landslide.
In Burgenland, the storm in particular caused many fire brigade operations. A tree fell on a post bus in Burbach – more about this at burgenland.ORF.at.
Weather extremes and the climate crisis
While individual extreme events cannot be directly traced to a specific cause, one thing is clear according to the current IPCC report: Climate change is making extreme weather events like floods, storms and heat waves more frequent and more intense. This means rainfall and storms are getting stronger, heat waves are getting hotter and droughts are getting drier.
Roads and railways were closed in Salzburg
Due to heavy snowfall, ÖBB Tauern has closed part of the railway line. The lane is expected to remain closed until Monday. Also, some road sections in the state of Salzburg are impassable. The fire brigades had to go on several missions – more about this at salzburg.ORF.at.
Saturday’s Bundesliga match between Salzburg and Klagenfurt was also canceled due to bad weather. Cancellation “inevitable” due to continuous rain – more on this at salzburg.ORF.at.
Heavy rain caused occasional problems on Carinthia’s roads – more on this at kaernten.ORF.at.
The situation remained calm in Tyrol until Friday afternoon, after continuous rain was forecast. According to a state government spokesman, “a lot of snow” has been reported so far, sometimes more than expected. This could lead to complications, but nothing major so far. However, large amounts of snow and rain are still expected in Tyrol – more on this at tirol.ORF.at. Vorarlberg has a calm climate at the moment, where it doesn’t rain much – more on this at vorarlberg.ORF.at.
