Sunday, December 22, 2024

Austria: Parts of Vienna under water after record rainfall – as cars swept through ski resort

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Heavy rain in Austria has left parts of Vienna under water and caused severe damage in parts of the country.

Fast-moving torrents of muddy water swept cars through the ski resort of St Anton in western Austria.

A woman was dragged under a bus by the force of flooding in the Dobling area of Vienna.

She was reportedly taken to hospital in a critical condition.

Image:
Cars are left under water after record rainfall. Pic: Fiss Volunteer Fire Department

Authorities now face a clean-up operation. Pic: Fiss Volunteer Fire Department
Image:
Authorities now face a clean-up operation. Pic: Fiss Volunteer Fire Department

Fire services in Austria’s capital city were called out more than 450 times on Saturday amid the heavy rainfall.

“Heavy storms have done great damage in many parts of Austria,” the country’s chancellor Karl Nehammer said.

In Dobling, officials registered 110 litres of rain per square metre, which ORF Vienna meteorologist Kevin Hebenstreit said was a record for August rainfall in the city.

A large proportion of Vienna’s average summer rainfall hit on Saturday in just one hour, according to weather data firm UBIMET.

Wildfires in Greece and Turkey

Elsewhere in Europe, wildfires have raged this summer, with Turkey and Greece battling dangerous fires this week.

A charred vehicle after fires passed not far from Athens. Pic: AP
Image:
A charred vehicle after fires passed not far from Athens. Pic: AP

Part of the extinguished wildfire area at the Anzac Cove beach, the site of World War I landing of the ANZACs in Turkey. Pic: AP
Image:
Part of the extinguished wildfire area at the Anzac Cove beach, in Turkey. Pic: AP

In Turkey, high winds and warm temperatures exacerbated fires across the country that thousands of firefighters have fought to bring under control.

Meanwhile, wildfires in Greece gutted an area nearly twice the size of Manhattan.

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Southern Europe has been baked by successive heatwaves and low levels of rainfall this year, contributing to the tinderbox conditions.

A factory worker was killed in the fires in Greece as they swept through mountainous areas, not far from Athens.

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Wildfires rage through Turkey

Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their homes in Turkey, but there have been no reported casualties there.

Abdullah Ozata, a Turkish livestock farmer who survived fires that burned through where he lived, told Sky News: “It was beautiful but now it has turned into hell.

“A place like paradise turned into hell. You can see it all around.”

Abdullah Ozata among the wreckage left by wildfires
Image:
Abdullah Ozata among the wreckage left by wildfires

Wildfires have also been seen in Madeira, Portugal.

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