Cleaning up after the shock

Hailstorm: “Suddenly the world ended”

The force of the hailstorm can also be seen on this house facade.(Bild: ZOOM.TIROL)

With incredible force, a hailstorm left a trail of devastation in the Tyrolean lowlands on Sunday evening. Drivers and homeowners experienced terrible moments. Now the big clean-up is underway.

The emergency services were confronted with crying children and shocked drivers when they were called to the Eibergstraße near Söll on Sunday evening. Hailstones the size of golf balls had smashed the windows of up to 30 vehicles. "Most of them were unable to continue their journey," said Söll fire department commander Anton Zott.

Destroyed car on the Eibergstraße.(Bild: ZOOM Tirol)

The occupants were then treated at the fire station, some of them were picked up by relatives, others took the train home. A snow plow cleared the road.

Water and hail penetrated underground garages.(Bild: zoom.tirol)

The municipality of Schwoich took the full brunt
Schwoich was one of the focal points of the storm front. "Suddenly the world came to an end. The event is reminiscent of the catastrophic hailstorm of 2009," said Deputy Fire Brigade Commander Martin Strasser, while the clean-up was still in full swing.

Roof tiles did not hold up at this house in Scheffau.(Bild: zoom.tirol)

The firefighters finished their night shift at around 4 a.m. and continued at 7 a.m. We are grateful for the help of our comrades from Bad Häring, Kufstein, Kirchbichl and Wörgl.

Roof tiles were smashed, basements were filled with a mixture of mud and hail up to half a meter high and many glass domes could not withstand the forces of nature.

We barely got out of the shed because the hail was 30 centimetres high in front of it

Martin Strasser, Vize-Feuewehrkommandant von Schwoich

"We barely made it out of the shed because the hail was 30 centimetres high," says Strasser. It was over in just ten minutes, but the total damage cannot yet be quantified. The storm then moved off in the direction of Scheffau, where there was also damage.

There was also enormous damage to the forest.(Bild: zoom.tirol)

The work was made more difficult by the fact that Tiwag was only able to restore power at 4 a.m. despite its best efforts. The forest and agriculture were also extremely affected. "Trees are often missing all their needles, it looks spooky."

No power until 4 a.m. on Monday
Schwoich mayor Peter Payr and many local residents had their hands full on Monday. "There are certainly several dozen buildings affected, companies are already working at full speed," he said.

A mudslide moved the main road near Zams.(Bild: ZOOM.TIROL)

279 fire department operations at the weekend in Tyrol
As briefly reported, the Oberland was also affected on Sunday: At the Christophorus base in Zams, a 50-metre-wide mudslide displaced the main road. A hiking group (four adults, four children) was rescued by helicopter.

For the time being, there is no threat of an alarm from the Inn: a maximum of 5.03 meters at the Innsbruck gauge is well below a five-year flood. There were a total of 279 fire department operations at the weekend.