One month after the flood

Furniture store can reopen after flooding

The furniture store's warehouse was completely destroyed.(Bild: zVg)

15,000 cubic meters of water flowed into the XXXLutz furniture store in the heart of St. Pölten. It effectively became a "retention basin" for the city center. One month later, it was able to reopen.

The elevator to the underground car park is not yet working and the reception area in the warehouse is still under construction. Apart from that, almost nothing at the XXXLutz store on St. Pölten's Europaplatz shows any signs of the consequences of the flood of the century. Yet they were devastating. 15,000 cubic meters of water flowed from the normally small Nadelbach stream, several hundred meters away, into the lower-lying store and the parking garage. "We were practically the retention basin for the city center," says Managing Director Martin Lackner, looking back.

Managing Director Martin Lackner is delighted about the reopening.(Bild: Attila Molnar)

However, the damage to the furniture store was in the millions. The building was flooded for more than a week. Most of the stock was destroyed and the building services in the basement were completely destroyed. "My employees even came back from vacation with rubber boots and brooms to help," says Lackner proudly. Because there was no electricity for two weeks, the clean-up was only possible with headlamps.

The warehouse was repaired and is currently being restocked with around a third of the goods.(Bild: Attila Molnar)

Around a month after the storm disaster, the store was able to reopen on Wednesday. The numerous customers were welcomed with sparkling wine. There will be live music on Friday and Saturday.