Giving up was never an option

Deployment to the limits of nerves and dam breakage

Monika Priemayr is extremely grateful to the Florianis: "They didn't give up on us, even though the dam was almost broken," she tells the "Krone".(Bild: René Denk)

"At best, you only give up on letters," the firefighters must have thought to themselves as they protected the Priemayr family home from the masses of water not far from a heavily loaded dam on the Thaya River in Lower Austria. Their efforts paid off - before there was no more hope, the water pressure receded.

The fight against the masses of water for the Priemayr family in Schwarzenau in the Zwettl district seemed almost hopeless. "It looked very bad at times, but the fire departments didn't let us down and kept fighting," says Monika Priemayr, looking back on the anxious hours with great gratitude.

Yard soaked back then
Back then, during the floods in 2002, it was "Hof unter" (yard under water), the place was completely flooded. Since then, they have been prepared: Sandbags, tarpaulins and tarpaulins for the courtyard gate as well as a submersible pump are ready, and water backflow flaps have also been installed since then. Even all of this was not enough this time and the fire departments not only fought to protect the building, but also to prevent the dam on the nearby Thaya River from breaking. "If it had broken, everything would have been over," emphasizes the 61-year-old.

"You are simply powerless!"
When asked how she felt during these nerve-wracking hours with the experiences of the past, the otherwise extremely tough woman is close to tears: "It takes so much energy - fighting the water and worrying whether your home will survive. You can only hope in such cases! Because you are simply powerless!", she emphasized once again, thanking the firefighters who were ultimately able to save her home.