The damage is immense

Final financial collapse looms after storms

The damage in the Lavanttal is immense.(Bild: zVg)

The stormy night last week will be remembered in Frantschach-St. Gertraud, Wolfsberg and Preitenegg (Carinthia). Not only for the residents affected, but also for the municipalities themselves. The damage has pushed the already cash-strapped municipalities to their limits.

"The damage here is immense and is estimated at several million euros," says Mayor Günther Vallant. In his municipality of Frantschach-St. Gertraud, the Kamper Bach and the Fraßbach have become raging rivers that flow into the Lavant. "The entire village, from the municipality to the kindergarten, an inn, the schoolyard and the police station have been flooded. The flood protection extension on the Lavant, which was opened in 2021, has held, but: "There is a lot of damage there too." There is talk of a 40-year flood. 

We had an audit by the state the day before the storm, so there might have been something left over in the budget. Now we are broke from one second to the next.

Bürgermeister Günther Vallant

New projects have to be financed
The experts from the torrent and avalanche control authority (WLV) were already on site last Saturday. Above all, the expansion of the Fraßbach, which has been planned for ten years, must be accelerated. "The project has top priority," says Vallant. The damage to the Kampbach, which comes from above Kamp and flows into the Fraßbach, is also horrendous. "Several roads have been destroyed and two bridges have been completely destroyed."

But it wasn't just in the municipality of Vallant that the storm caused immense damage. The torrential rain also left its mark in the municipality of Wolfsberg. The road in the Theklagraben area was badly damaged and has to be rebuilt. The damage here is also in the millions.

The Lavanttal village leaders are now at a loss. Due to the financial crisis in the Carinthian municipalities, additional expenditure for the repair of storm damage is almost impossible to bear. They are hoping for support from the state and federal governments.