Over the weekend, torrential rains battered Austria’s Alpine regions and submerged portions of Vienna, severely damaging parts of the nation and interfering with road and rail transportation, according to local media and officials.
Social media footage from Friday showed cars being washed through the western Austrian ski resort of St. Anton by swiftly flowing rivers of dirty water. Meanwhile, public broadcaster ORF reported that sections of Vienna in the east of the nation saw record-breaking rainfall on Saturday.
The water in the Doebling neighborhood of the city’s north dragged a woman beneath a bus on Saturday, according to ORF. It further said that she was brought to the hospital in a critical condition.
More than 450 fire departments were dispatched to the capital on Saturday due to the heavy rains that caused traffic jams and interrupted rail operations, as reported by ORF.
“A lot of Austria has been severely damaged by strong storms,” Chancellor Karl Nehammer said on X, expressing gratitude to the officials who were attempting to repair the damage.
Rainfall in the Doebling neighborhood of Vienna was recorded at 110 liters per square meter, a record for the city of August, according to ORF Vienna meteorologist Kevin Hebenstreit.
In less than an hour on Saturday, a significant amount of Vienna’s typical summer rainfall fell, according to weather data provider UBIMET.
According to ORF, August sees an average of 68 liters of rain per square meter, with a record of 139 liters on May 15, 1885.
