The heavy rainfall on Friday night caused mudslides and flooding in Styria and Carinthia. Following the deployment in Carinthia, which now includes 50 soldiers 80 Styrian Armed Forces have now also been helping to deal with the flood risks in south-eastern Styria since 17:00 today. A helicopter is being used in Carinthia.
“The rapid deployment of our soldiers shows that the Austrian population can always rely on the Austrian Armed Forces. They show time and again what and how much they can do – from the core task of military national defense to helping the population, our Armed Forces are ready for action around the clock for our security. Our top priority is the rapid assistance on the ground that our soldiers provide in Carinthia and support the civilian emergency services. I would like to thank all the emergency organizations and especially the members of the Austrian Armed Forces, who are always ready to provide rapid assistance where help is urgently needed,” said Defence Minister Klaudia Tanner.
“We are experiencing extraordinarily difficult hours and days in Styria – especially in the districts of south-eastern Styria, Leibnitz and Deutschlandsberg. Several places have already been declared disaster areas due to the persistent rain. Others may follow. We have therefore decided to ask the Austrian Armed Forces for support and request assistance. We are grateful that this was done so quickly. Thank you to all the soldiers who are deployed in Styria. Together with the countless helpers – especially the comrades of our volunteer fire departments – they are helping to protect the people of Styria,” said Styrian Governor Christopher Drexler and his deputy Anton Lang.
Assistance deployment now also in Styria
80 soldiers have been deployed in south-eastern Styria since 17:00. From the Strasser barracks, 30 troops are supporting the local fire department in the Leibnitz area and 50 soldiers from the Feldbach barracks are helping to contain the flood situation in the Feldbach area – for example by filling sandbags.
Reinforcement of emergency forces in Carinthia
While a total of 25 pioneer soldiers were still deployed in Carinthia in the morning, the number was increased to 50 specialists from Carinthia during the course of the day due to the challenging situation. Ten disaster relief specialists with heavy pioneer equipment are currently deployed north of Eisenkappel. 20 pioneers are supporting the fire department in the St. Paul im Lavanttal area and a further 20 soldiers are helping the local emergency services around Viktring to set up flood barriers. An AB212 transport helicopter is helping the emergency services from the air. A further three helicopters are available for operations in Carinthia.
