"Almost drowned"

How the country’s smallest town escaped disaster

View of Bienerstraße on Sunday evening. Cleaning up in front of Konditorei Freudenschuss the next day (right).(Bild: Bernhard Freiberger, Andreas Moser, Krone KREATIV)

"You could say we almost drowned" - said Bernhard Freiberger, mayor of Austria's smallest municipality, on Sunday evening. Rattenberg in the district of Kufstein was hit by a veritable deluge. Coupled with a power cut, it almost turned into a disaster - which was only just averted.

Daniela Freudenschuss had her patisserie up and running again the next day. But Sunday evening was - to put it mildly - exciting: "Suddenly it got dark and it poured like never before. The water then flowed into the restaurant from a shaft at the back entrance - until it was 20 centimetres high. You can only watch."