Severe flooding and mudslides hit Austria and southern Germany sweeping away a train in Salzburg

Severe flooding and mudslides hit parts of Austria and southern Germany, causing a train to be swept away in Salzburg and leaving 70 people stranded in their cars. Heavy rain and hail showers hit large parts of the country on Tuesday night, with Upper and Lower Austria, Tyrol and Styria reporting flooded streets throughout the region.

In Salzburg, a train and a coach were caught in a mudslide and swept away, and it was reported three people were injured, one of them seriously, according to Kronen Zeitung. The Pinzgau and Pongau regions in Salzburg were hit particularly hard by the storms. 

Emergency services were able to rescue those stranded and took them to St Johann congress center, before evacuating the Krimml train station in Pinzgau. ‘There have never been more events. The people are more and more afraid,’ said the Pinzgau Fire Brigade Chief Claus Portenkirchner. Diggers began cleaning up the destruction after flooding in Wald im Pinzgau near Salzburg after storms battered the country overnight.

More than 100 fire brigades across the district and 1,500 firefighters were called to more than 500 emergencies as water flooded streets in Upper Austria. Pictured: People wearing helmets and life jackets attempt to push a car out from a flooded underpass in Saint Johann im Pongau.

Across the country, there were reports of numerous incidents, including 200 reports of emergencies in Tyrol, as people’s garages and cellars were submerged in water and in Stummerberg, where two houses caught fire after being hit by lightning.

In Lower Austria, heavy rainfall and storms led to 420 reports of problems caused by the storms, and almost 2,000 firefighters from 180 stations joined to deal with the damage. Pictured: A bus in Dienten am Hochkoenig that was destroyed in the floods and is stuck under a bridge.

Franz Resperger, from the regional command, said the districts of Amstetten, St. Pölten, Melk, Tulln, Baden and Mödling were hardest hit by the storm, and the fire department emergency number ‘rang every minute’. 

In Styria, the Liezen district was particularly hard hit by the storms. A car had to be salvaged from a flooded street underpass, and a river overflowed adding to chaos caused by several mudslides. However, it appears the country is through the worst of the bad weather, as meteorologists at UBIMET predict no further rain and temperatures of 25 degrees. Pictured: A railway line appears damaged and surrounded by debris as devastation from the storm appears across the country.

Pictured: Residents cleaning up in St Johann im Pongau, a region that was hit particularly hard by the weather.

In the Pinzgau and Pongau regions in Salzburg, 70 people were stuck in their cars between two mudslides, and emergency services were able to rescue those stranded and took them to St Johann congress center.

In Upper Austria, more than 100 fire brigades and 1,500 firefighters were called to more than 500 emergencies as water flooded streets.

Franz Resperger, from the regional command, said the districts of Amstetten, St. Pölten, Melk, Tulln, Baden and Mödling were hardest hit by the storm. Fire brigades in many regions were called out to assist people whose homes had flooded as water levels rose across the districts of Gmunden, Kirchdorf and Steyr-Land.

More than 200 flooded cellars and several street underpasses had to have the water pumped out and 150 trees that had fallen into power and telephone lines had to be removed.

Pictured: A destroyed tourist bus gets stuck under a bridge after heavy rain battered the country. It was reported three people were injured, one of them seriously, as the bus was swept away.