Mudslide and power outages

Heavy thunderstorms with severe consequences over Tyrol

(Bild: ZOOM.TIROL)

Several thunderstorms hit Tyrol in a flash, literally, on Sunday afternoon. This resulted in power outages in several municipalities and a landslide.

In Tyrol, there were some heavy thunderstorms late on Sunday afternoon with serious consequences. For example, the Achensee road had to be closed in both directions between Maurach and Achenkirch near the Bergkristall inn after a landslide at 5 pm. The road was mired over a length of approx. 35 meters and a height of approx. four meters. The clean-up work took hours, there were no injuries.

Several mudslides in Auffach
At around 5.40 pm, several mudslides occurred in Auffach in the eastern municipal area of Auffach. Numerous municipal roads were blocked by fallen trees, meaning that several residents were cut off from the outside world for the duration of the clean-up work. Furthermore, the bridge in the Mühltal area, which leads over the Weißenbach towards the Klammstraße / Mühltal junction, was lifted by the river and is therefore currently impassable.

"Almost drowned"
However, Rattenberg, the smallest municipality in Austria, was apparently lucky. The water was up to 60 cm high. Several buildings were flooded. The cause was the widespread power failure, which brought the pumping station to a standstill.

A catastrophe could only be prevented by the rapid action of the emergency services. "Within around 15 minutes, the emergency generator was connected to the mains and the pumps were back up and running," said the mayor, according to media reports. The city got off relatively lightly, but there were several insurance claims in the stores.

8000 households without power
But that was not the only consequence: in Alpbach, trees are said to have fallen onto a car, and in Kelchsau, a tree is said to have fallen onto a house. There were also numerous power cuts. The municipalities of Kramsach, Radfeld, Brixlegg, Reith im Alpbachtal, Alpbach and Rattenberg were affected. At peak times, around one hundred grid stations and therefore around 8,000 customers were without power. According to TINETZ, the interruption was caused by "strong thunderstorms with extreme winds."