Mexico City. Heavy rains lashed Austria’s Alpine regions and left parts of Vienna under water over the weekend, causing severe damage in parts of the country and disrupting road and rail transport, local authorities and media reported.
Fast-moving torrents of muddy water swept cars through the ski resort of St. Anton in western Austria on Friday, images posted on social media showed. Public broadcaster ORF reported record rainfall in parts of Vienna in the east of the country on Saturday.
A woman was swept under a bus by the force of floodwaters in the Doebling area in the north of the city on Saturday, ORF said. The woman was taken to hospital in a critical condition.
Firefighters in the capital had to intervene more than 450 times on Saturday as the downpours caused traffic chaos and disrupted rail transport, the paper reported.
“The strong storms have caused extensive damage in many parts of Austria,” Chancellor Karl Nehammer said at X, thanking authorities who were working to clean up the damage.
In the Vienna district of Doebling, authorities recorded 110 litres of rain per square metre, which according to ORF Vienna meteorologist Kevin Hebenstreit is a record for August rainfall in the city.
According to weather data company UBIMET, a large part of Vienna’s average summer rainfall fell in one hour on Saturday.
On average, 68 litres per square metre of rain falls in August, with the historical record of 139 litres being set on 15 May 1885, the ORF said.
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– 2024-08-26 07:33:13
