St. Pölten. The flood damage in Lower Austria (NÖ) has become apparent after the waters have receded. With the water receding, a major clean-up operation has begun. “Now the work begins,” explains the Zoka-Svoboda family, who say that the cellars must be emptied and the damage must be assessed. There is also great solidarity among the local people, and the slogan at the moment is “Stay together and get to work.”
The operators of the hotel “Smart Liv” took action quickly in times of need. Cars from the neighbouring complex took shelter in the car park and rooms were made available to flood victims free of charge. “Some people have lost everything,” said young manager Christian, describing the current situation in the region; one woman was able to save herself with only her wet clothes. In the hours that followed, the main task was to comfort those affected by the flood. After all, it will probably take weeks to clean up the destruction caused by Sunday’s flood in Böheimkirchen.
As if they had come out of nowhere, the uncontrollable floods took the 5,200-person community in the St. Pölten district by surprise. “The water came from three directions at once,” a resident of the Eichbachsiedlung district told a local inspection by “Krone”. “Mountains of garbage” have piled up in front of the houses. “We’ve never seen anything like this before. Everything is broken,” says Evelyn Sturzeis, as she pulls her flooded belongings from the depths of the basement. They had previously experienced flooding here in 2002, but they narrowly escaped it then. “This time we could only watch, otherwise it would have been life-threatening,” says a neighbor. “It came from all sides like a raging river. There were countless dead pigs floating in the middle, it was terrifying,” recalls Sturzeis. Animals were swept away by the flood from a nearby farm to their deaths.
Viktoria and Peter Anzenberger still haven’t been able to assess the damage. The glassworks were hit hard by the flood. “Suddenly sirens started going off everywhere, we were scared. We ran upstairs,” says the company boss. Next year the company will celebrate its 150th anniversary: ”Giving up is not an option,” says Anzenberger, looking confidently to the future.
What happens now?
“There are many people who are in much worse situations,” some say among those affected. “The water was 70 centimetres high. The house is uninhabitable and probably cannot be saved,” says the 33-year-old. A complete drama for his 80-year-old grandparents.
Around 80 firefighters continue to work the next day. “This is an emergency. We set out from Neunkirchen at five this morning to help,” explains incident commander Johann Hödl. A street away, comrades from Salzburg support the local Florianis. But as long as the groundwater doesn’t sink, they are fighting a losing battle.
2024-09-19 12:15:16