At the flood lever

Why Vienna is not under water today

The weirs in the west of Vienna also kept tons of driftwood away from the city. It will still take some time for the MA 45 to remove it.(Bild: Stadt Wien / Wiener Gewässer)

"Vienna can handle floods", summed up Mayor Michael Ludwig after the weekend. That this is the case is also due to the mighty reservoirs in the west. In addition, there is a great deal of sensitivity on the part of those who hold out there when the water comes - even when the power goes out in the middle of the flood.

The previous record level of the Vienna River since records began - 390 centimetres - on 11 May 1951 was set to the nearest centimetre this weekend. This is no coincidence, but the result of the fact that the water levels of the Wien are literally manual work: At the levers are the teams from Vienna's municipal water department 45, who have control over the mighty weirs and retention basins in Auhof in the west of Vienna.