Settlement flooded

The fire department just shouted: “Wake up the children, come along”

Firefighters and paramedics rescued children in the boat. Those who couldn't stay with friends or relatives were looked after in the event center in Mauerkirchen.(Bild: Manfred Fesl)

"Wake up the children and come with us. The water is coming" - the call from the fire department in Mauerkirchen came when people in Upper Austria, including in the Mitterbrunning settlement, were certain that the flood was as good as over. But the rain clouds had opened up again, flooding the Rodl in Walding, the Pesenbach in Feldkirchen/D. and the Brunnbach and a retention basin nearby in Mauerkirchen.

"The water was rising by the minute. The fire department came, said we had to get out, ten minutes later again: 'Now really!'," says Astrid Dengler, who fled with her son. She had lost her husband four years ago and had fixed up the house: "I actually wanted to fix up the garden now. Fortunately, I haven't done it yet" - adding: "It's funny what you think about." She would now "clean out the bungalow from front to back".

Within an hour, we evacuated 20 houses with around 60 residents. No one in the bungalow can escape to the second floor.

Bernhard Buchecker, FF-Kommandant von Mauerkirchen

Her neighbor Danijela Stanojevic and her family piled up soaked furniture and ruined things in front of the house when the "Krone" team arrived in calf-high water to inspect the 20-home estate. "The fire department brought us through the window on a pallet with a forklift," reported the Mauerkirch woman, who received help from neighbors.

Firefighters pumped the water back into the Brunnbach stream(Bild: Manfred Fesl)

"We didn't sleep much"
"We weren't allowed to stay in the house either, we didn't sleep much. Because we didn't know what was going to happen when we got home," says Peter Maier, whose home stayed dry and now went out with the mop to help the neighbors. When Fatka Kadusic showed the "Krone" what the flood had left behind in the house, the water in the street was already gone. Her two children, Alina (4) and Eldin (6), had been taken to safety in a wheelbarrow by the helpers.

It is difficult for those affected(Bild: Manfred Fesl)

"A big thank you"
"The water receded almost as quickly as it had come," says Bernhard Buchecker, commander of the Mauerkirchen fire brigade. He and his comrades were praised by all 60 people affected: "The emergency services did everything they could, a big thank you."

When the "Krone" visited Mitterbrunning in Mauerkirchen, the water was already receding(Bild: Manfred Fesl)

"There used to be a field here"
An older Mauerkirchen resident, who knew the area before the housing estate was built a few years ago, said thoughtfully: "There used to be a field here with a drainage channel for floods. But that was built over when the new houses were built."