Friday continues

1.4 million euros in damage, no respite from storms

In the Innviertel region, the storm caused extensive damage with coin-sized hailstones and a tree fell on a house in Ried.(Bild: aumat/Matthias Lauber)

Continuous alarm for the emergency services! Late Wednesday alone, 3300 firefighters from 220 fire departments had to be called out a total of 324 times in Upper Austria. And on Friday, thunderstorms are expected again, especially in the Inn, Mühlviertel and Hausruckviertel regions as well as in the central area.

On Wednesday, the emergency services mostly had to respond to blocked or flooded roads and flooded buildings. The districts of Braunau, Ried and Rohrbach were hit particularly hard. The worst hail damage was also in the west: In Braunau, Schärding and Grieskirchen, agricultural damage amounted to 1.4 million euros, according to Upper Austrian hail insurance director Wolfgang Winkler. Around 3000 hectares of grain, maize, soy, sugar beet and rapeseed crops and grassland were destroyed, in some cases massively.

Coin-sized hailstones fell on Wednesday.(Bild: Scharinger Daniel)

Where it thunderstorms on Friday
"The comrades are already coming to sleep. Prolonged storms and flooding are bad", explains Martin Burger from the Upper Austrian fire brigade command. "After a calm Thursday, we're expecting thunderstorms again on Friday evening, but not as strong as on Wednesday," says Burger.

Several trees fell on Wednesday, especially in the Innviertel region.(Bild: Scharinger Daniel)

Meteorologist Christian Ortner from GeoSphere Austria is expecting thunderstorms from 2 pm. There may be hail, heavy rain and gale-force winds of up to 100 km/h. The Inn, Mühlviertel and Hausruckviertel regions as well as the central area are particularly at risk, while the danger is lower in the south. "However, the situation will calm down again quickly," says Ortner.

Outlook for the weekend
In the central region, the storms will probably be over by around 7 pm on Friday. Rain showers are expected on Saturday, especially in the mountains, and thunderstorms are still possible in the south in the afternoon. The weather situation will be more stable on Sunday.