Styrian relief forces

Armed forces and rescue services in the fight against flooding

Styria is on disaster alert: the fire departments have been working at full speed since Saturday evening, but the Austrian Armed Forces and the Red Cross are now also in demand. The former are currently rebuilding bridges, while the latter are taking care of the civilian population.

It is undisputed that the Styrian fire departments - largely on a voluntary basis - are doing a great job on this exceptional weekend. However, disasters of this magnitude also require additional emergency personnel: more than 100 Red Cross employees and 34 members of the Austrian Armed Forces are currently providing support in the Styrian crisis areas.

Especially around Hartberg, the soldiers have been asked for help by politicians and the administration: They are currently carrying out clean-up and reconstruction work in Grafendorf and Safenau. "Two bridges there have been washed away and now have to be rebuilt," reports Marcel Taschwer from the Ministry of Defense.

Governor Christopher Drexler (ÖVP) was also in Hartberg-Fürstenfeld on Sunday morning.(Bild: Land Steiermark)

The Styrian Red Cross is once again mainly deployed in the area around Deutschfeistritz. In addition to 100 deployed forces, 200 people are on standby. The teams are made up of emergency officers, paramedics and members of the crisis intervention team. Head of operations Thomas Gangl says: "We are using all available resources to support the population and the volunteer fire departments."

The military is also prepared to continue to assist the civilian population. A reconnaissance unit is taking care of coordination - the next storm front could approach Styria in the Sunday afternoon hours. "The Austrian Armed Forces are prepared to remain deployed for as long as necessary to deal with the consequences of the storm disaster," it was said on Sunday.