Storm in Salzburg

Continuous rain and snow – emergency services challenged

Onset of winter: A tree fell in Tamsweg, the volunteer fire department was called out.(Bild: FF Tamsweg)

The continuous rain, but even more so the snowfall at higher altitudes, has kept the emergency services throughout the province on their toes since Thursday afternoon. . 

In Pinzgau and Pongau, almost 20 call-outs were recorded by Friday morning, according to the provincial fire brigade command. Ten fire departments with around 100 firefighters were busy recovering vehicles that had skidded off the road or clearing the consequences of broken trees. A motorcyclist was injured on the snow on the Hochkönig road.

Accident in the snow: in Tamsweg, the fire department had to recover a vehicle(Bild: FF Tamsweg)

Water levels expected to rise
According to the provincial flood service, the precipitation has not yet had a serious impact on the water levels of the rivers. However, as stated in an early warning on Thursday evening, the soil is now highly pre-wetted. Although the predicted snow line is causing a retention in the catchment areas, water levels are expected to rise from midday on Friday in the heavily over-rained northern reservoirs, especially in the Flach- and Tennengau and on the Salzach from Golling. There could be localized flooding of smaller streams.

However, the challenging situation in eastern Austria is unlikely to come to a head in the city of Salzburg. As Deputy Fire Director Werner Kloiber says, the snow in the mountains has the advantage that it binds a lot of water. "The water levels of the Salzach at Mayburger Kai and Karolinenbrücke are currently safe. If the reporting limit is reached, the cycle underpasses will be closed. Situation reports and forecasts do not currently indicate that the professional fire department and volunteer fire department will have to set up flood protection." Smaller bodies of water and possibly overloaded canal systems could, however, make operations necessary due to the continuing rainfall, according to Kloiber. The peak is expected on Saturday. 

Several roads and ÖBB routes closed
The ÖBB Tauernbahn line is interrupted between Bischofshofen and Spittal an der Drau, rail replacement services have been set up. The closure will probably remain in place until Monday. After the snowfall during the night, the emergency teams have to remove trees from the vicinity of the overhead line over a length of around eight kilometers. Due to the heavy snow load, the trees are protruding into the track area. A rail replacement service with buses is set up between Bad Hofgastein and Bad Gastein.

Impassable: the Tauern route(Bild: öbb)

Several road connections were also closed in the morning due to fallen trees.