The heavy rain on Saturday afternoon in Vienna caused an August record, numerous deployments of the professional fire brigade, flooding in underpasses, cellars and underground car parks as well as two power outages in Döbling and Alsergrund.
VIENNA. As predicted, Vienna was hit by heavy rain on Saturday afternoon. According to “ORF” meteorologists, Kevin Hebenstreit and Daniel Schrott an August record was broken. At the Hohe Warte station in Döbling, 103 liters of water per square meter from the sky. The average for August is actually 68 liters per square meter, the August record so far was 76 liters (August 12, 1959). However, this was not the all-time record, which still stands at 139 liters (May 15, 1885).
Photos and videos of flooded underpasses, small “rivers of water” in subway stations and shafts from which water flowed are piling up on social networks.
In an interview with MeinBezirk, fire department spokesman Martin Hofbauerthat the heavy rain was a “big challenge” due to numerous operations and even more emergency calls, but the fire brigade was ready for it. The storm hit Hernals, the inner city, Leopoldstadt, Brigittenau and parts of Währing and Döbling particularly hard. There was increased operational readiness so that the emergency services could arrive on site quickly.
However, there were no unusual operations, says Hofbauer. There was talk of water ingress, water in cellars and underground garages, and leaky ceilings. Due to strong winds, there were also some storm operations. For example, at Stephansplatz, where some of the large tarpaulins and banners on the scaffolding of St. Stephen’s Cathedral came loose.
Several public transport disruptions
There were no major operations at Wiener Linien either, but the weather and the numerous fire service operations caused disruptions on public transport lines 37, 38, 40, 42, 11A and 40A. This was announced by company spokeswoman Carina Novy in the MeinBezirk conversation. According to the Wiener Linien disruption page, as of 5.50 p.m., there are a total of 22 Disturbances due to fire brigade operations.
Of course, says Novy, it is possible that there was a little more water in some stations, but this did not cause any major problems. An X-video shows what it looked like in the Heiligenstadt station on Saturday afternoon.
Power outages in two districts
There were also two major power outages in Döbling and Alsergrund on Saturday afternoon as a result of the storm. According to MeinBezirk information, a total of 2,200 households were affected. The reason is water in transformer stations. MeinBezirk reported:
Large-scale power outage after storm chaos in Vienna
Here are some photos and videos of the storm in Vienna:
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