Town hit again

Thörl flooded again: “Many are afraid”

In the Mürzzuschlag area, streams burst their banks.(Bild: BFVMZ )

Severe storms hit Styria: flooding and storms caused extensive damage. Thörl was hit hard again. Heavy rainfall caused the Thörlbach stream to burst its banks, roads were flooded and cellars inundated.

"For everyone affected, this is a dramatic situation and really terrible," says Siegfried Schrittwieser, Styrian Red Cross President and Thörl veteran, to the "Krone" newspaper. His community had already been hit hard by severe storms several times this year, and this time too, unfortunately, the residents were not spared.

Heavy rainfall caused the Thörlbach to burst its banks, streets were flooded and cellars inundated. Because there was a danger to life for the population, a civil protection alert was even issued (until Sunday evening): the fire departments were deployed on a large scale, the Red Cross issued a standby alert for its services and ambulances were positioned at central points in the village.

The Kapfenberg firefighters had to pile up sandbags at residential buildings along the Mürz.(Bild: FF Kapfenberg-Diemlach)

"All belongings under water again"
"Many families in Thörl already have their belongings under water again. You have to imagine the existential fears these people have," says Schrittwieser, whose home was spared by the flood this time. "But the drying equipment in our cellar is still running from the last flood."

Despite all the misfortune, what makes the Thörler positive is the solidarity among the population: "In emergencies, people help each other again. That's a good sign for living together."

In dramatic situations, people are helping each other again. That's a good signal for living together.

Siegfried Schrittwieser, steirischer Rotkreuz-Präsident aus Thörl

Bild: Christian Jauschowetz

"I hope we get off lightly"
Günther Wagner, Mayor of Thörl, was out and about all day to identify damaged areas. There were numerous floods, landslides - and the soccer pitch was "hit again". "Thank God there are no injuries. I hope we get off lightly," says the head of the village.

The emergency services also had to be deployed to Kapfenberg, where the Mürz overflowed, and the emergency phones were ringing in the Mürzzuschlag area and in Hartberg in Eastern Styria.