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WEATHER

Austria army rescues snowbound German students

Austrian troops airlifted a group of German students stranded at a snowbound ski resort on Friday, as emergency services scrambled to clear record snowfall across large parts of the country.

Austria army rescues snowbound German students
Emergency workers clear heavy snowfall on Friday. Photo: DPA
The army said it used two helicopters to transport the group of 66 pupils and teachers from the central ski station of Kasberg in Gruenau. It had been cut off for days due to the heavy snowfall covering much of the west and centre of the country.
 
The group, from Dortmund in western Germany, arrived there last Saturday, but the station was forced to shut a few days ago due to the risk of avalanches, falling trees and power blackouts.
 
Austria has been hit by record snowfall for more than a week. Many roads have been impassable because of a lack of the road salt needed to grit them.
 
A break in the weather enabled soldiers, firefighters, other public employees and volunteers to clear some of the snow on Friday, but more is expected at the weekend.
 
Some 500 soldiers have been drafted in to clear roads and roofs in the most heavily affected areas, and a further 1,000 soldiers are on standby, the government said.
 
Much of the country is on its highest avalanche alert level, with seven skiers and snowshoe hikers having died since Saturday and two hikers missing. Most of the victims perished in avalanches but emergency services say two of them died when falling into deep snowdrifts and suffocating.
 
 
The women's World Cup downhill and Super G championships, scheduled to be held in St Anton this weekend, have also been called off.
 
Another resort, Loser, in the central region of Styria, was totally submerged in five metres of snow. 
 
The bad weather has also affected the south of Germany, where the army has also been called in to help. 
 
A number of motorists were trapped in their cars overnight on the A8 motorway to the south-east of Munich and 90 flights were grounded at Munich airport on Friday.
 
A nine-year-old boy was killed on Thursday by a tree that collapsed under the weight of the snow. 

WEATHER

More rain forecast as storms hit western Germany

Severe storms and heavy rain affected parts of Germany on Thursday, creating disruptions. More rain is forecast on Friday but weather warnings have been lifted.

More rain forecast as storms hit western Germany

Major storms hit western Germany on Thursday, causing travel disruption and flooding. 

In parts of Baden-Württemberg, streets were flooded and rivers swelled. Bisingen, southwest of Tübingen, was particularly hard hit, with cellars and streets plunged under water.

Police said there was also traffic disruption. In Baden-Württemberg’s state capital Stuttgart, severe storms and lightning caused issues and some roads were closed.

A lightning strike in the Sigmaringen area resulted in a broken signal box on the railway line. According to Deutsche Bahn, no train journeys were possible in the region in the early evening with several delays and cancellations.

Other states were also affected.

There were around 300 relief operations in the Ahrweiler district in Rhineland-Palatinate, which was hit by the 2021 deadly flood disaster.

Police said no-on was injured, although basements and streets were flooded. The water levels of the Ahr were being closely monitored.

Emergency services in Bisingen on Thursday.

Emergency services in Bisingen on Thursday. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Silas Stein

In Trier, too, streets were flooded after heavy rain and there were hailstorms. The Koblenz police headquarters reported fallen trees. Significant property damage due to full cellars and flooded streets was also reported in some areas. 

Heavy showers also fell in Hesse, accompanied by thunder storms. In Frankfurt, according to the fire department, the heavy rain caused water to enter the Bethanien Hospital and even reach the intensive care unit of the clinic.

“We were able to contain the damage relatively quickly and prevent it from spreading,” said fire department spokesman Thorben Schemmel, adding that no patients were affected.

In Rhineland-Palatinate, the Eifel region was particularly affected, with reports of flooded streets after heavy rain and hailstorms.

North Rhine-Westphalia also saw storms late in the afternoon on Thursday. 

The German Weather Service (DWD) said it expected some heavy rain and hail in parts of the country on Friday – particularly in the west – and at the weekend but warnings of severe weather have been lifted. 

The DWD said there could still be one or two strong thunderstorms in the northeast on Friday. However, it will be a significantly quieter day compared to Thursday. Temperatures of up to 25C can be expected.

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