"The situation is tragic"

How Carinthia’s fire brigades are faring in disaster operations

The Carinthian fire departments in Stockerau in Lower Austria are hip-deep in flood water.(Bild: FF Eisentratten)

Mud, mudslides and floods: Carinthia's firefighters have been helping their colleagues in Lower Austria since Monday and are working courageously in the disaster areas.

On Monday (at three o'clock in the morning), 250 Carinthian firemen and women from the KAT platoons in the districts of Spittal, Wolfsberg and Völkermarkt set off. Their destination: Lower Austria, plagued by storms.

"We were on the road for six hours in a convoy with 43 vehicles," the helpers told the "Krone" newspaper after the tense journey. During the transfer to the disaster areas, the weather deteriorated drastically. "It's cold, windy and it's pouring all the time!" says Walter Egger, spokesman for the Spittal district fire brigade. "We try to hold out as best we can."

We went to Lower Austria with a good feeling! They never let us down either.

Ali Striednig, Feuerwehr Mallnitz

Bild: FF Spittal

That goes without saying when you decide to join the fire department. The people of Lower Austria were there for us too!

 Stefanie Kanzner, FF Spittal

Bild: FF Spittal

The fire department is one big family. It's all about solidarity. If we need help, the other comrades are there for us too.

Josef Edlinger, FF Möllbrücke

Bild: FF Möllbrücke

The KAT platoon is a really important task! For me, it's a matter of honor to be there and help.

Michael Lassnig, FF Seeboden

Bild: FF Spittal

The Carinthian helpers are mainly needed in Stockerau and Klosterneuburg, where they are divided into several groups because there are several damaged areas to be cleared. "A dam is threatening to break there. A stream has to be returned to its natural course. A water collection basin in the area of the wind turbines has to be pumped out and houses and cellars have to be cleared out and freed from the enormous masses of mud and water." The work is anything but harmless. "Heavy equipment also has to be used. It would be life-threatening for residents alone," Egger points out.

The Carinthian fire departments in Stockerau in Lower Austria are waist-deep in floodwater.(Bild: FF Eisentratten)

Streams and catch basins have to be pumped out.(Bild: FF Möllbrücke)

Roads are flooded(Bild: FF Spittal)

(Bild: FF Kärnten)

The situation is tense. Masses of water are causing concern for the population(Bild: FF Spittal)

(Bild: FF Möllbrück)

(Bild: FF Möllbrücke)

Catch basins have to be pumped out(Bild: FF Kärnten)

The mood is hard to put into words
The mood on the ground can hardly be put into words. "There is a desperation in the sentences and gestures of the citizens. Fear is breathing down their necks, because it's not over yet," says another firefighter. Despite all this, there is also gratitude in the eyes of those affected. "Thanks to the help, they don't feel left alone. And that encourages us once again in our work!"

While the first teams leave, the next disaster trains from Carinthia will take over on Tuesday - from Klagenfurt, Feldkirchen and St. Veit. On Wednesday, KAT Platoon 1 from Hermagor, Villach Stadt and Land is scheduled to deploy.