Resident reports:

“Lightning strike felt like a bomb”

Waterworks employees immediately began repair work.(Bild: Maurice Shourot)

On Wednesday evening in Hörbranz (Vorarlberg), lightning struck in the immediate vicinity of an old farmhouse. Resident Martin Preuss experienced a moment of shock, as the pressure wave from the lightning could also be clearly felt on the other side of the house. 

A violent storm swept across Vorarlberg in the early hours of Wednesday evening and kept fire departments throughout the state on their toes. The storm caused trees to snap and masses of water to flood cellars and underpasses. In Feldkirch, a garden pavilion that was blown away caused major damage - parts of it fell onto several cars.

In Hörbranz, a lightning strike in the immediate vicinity of a farmhouse caused great excitement. The lightning struck the main water pipe, which led to small fires in the electrical wiring in the neighboring buildings. The power went out in the houses concerned. In the apartment building closest to the lightning strike, all electrical cables, televisions and sockets were destroyed. The residents were lucky - no one was injured, so everyone got off lightly.

Martin Preuss also experienced a moment of shock. When the lightning struck, he was in the garden on the other side of his farmhouse. "The lightning strike felt like a bomb had exploded in Hörbranz. I felt the huge pressure wave," he told the "Krone" newspaper.

The Floriani firefighters also arrived in Hörbranz. They extinguished pockets of embers in the pipes of the affected houses. Waterworks employees began repairing the main pipe.