Heavy rains lashed Austria’s Alpine regions over the weekend and submerged parts of Vienna, causing heavy damage and disrupting road and rail transport in parts of the country, officials and local media reported.
Fast-moving muddy water swept away cars in the ski resort of St Anton in western Austria on Friday, footage posted on social media showed. Meanwhile, public broadcaster ORF reported that parts of Vienna in the east of the country received record rainfall on Saturday.
On Saturday, a woman was dragged under a bus by floodwaters in the Döbling area, north of the city, ORF reported. She was taken to hospital in serious condition.
Fire services were called out more than 450 times in the capital on Saturday as heavy rains snarled traffic and disrupted rail transport, according to ORF.
“Heavy storms have caused extensive damage in many parts of Austria,” Chancellor Karl Nehammer said on X. He thanked the authorities working to repair the damage.
In Vienna’s Döbling district, officials recorded 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 portion of Vienna’s average summer rainfall fell in just one hour on Saturday, according to weather data firm ubimet.
According to ORF, the average rainfall in August is 68 litres per square metre, with the all-time record being 139 litres on May 15, 1885.