Widespread disruption as heavy snow, floods, and mudslides kill 1, injure 2 others in Austria

A man died while two other people were injured as parts of Austria dealt with heavy snow, avalanche threats, and flooding by swollen rivers on Monday, November 18, 2019. The snow started on November 13 and increased significantly over the weekend.

The victim was identified as an 80-year old man who succumbed to a mudslide in Bad Kleinkirchheim, southern Austria, according to news agency APA.

Another landslide in Bad Gastein, south of Salzburg, ravaged two residential properties, burying two women in the mud.

Firefighters were able to rescue one of them promptly, while the other one took several hours. Both sustained injuries but were taken to the hospital shortly.

In Gurktal in the Carinthia region, around 70 firemen had to evacuate residents of 15 buildings as a precaution to the threats of the swelling Gurk River.

More than 30 people were displaced in the region of Styria amid landslide concerns.

A number of train lines were interrupted and about 2 000 households in East Tyrol were without power for several hours.

Elsewhere in southern Austria, some villages were blocked due to heavy snowfall. Several schools had to cancel classes.

Authorities have deployed helicopters to scout the nearby mountains for possible avalanches.

Snow started falling in Austria on November 13, Wednesday. However, it became more severe over the weekend as a rare early winter stirs across Europe.

Snow, ice and heavy rain brought by the first major snowstorm of the 2019/20 season caused widespread disruption on the roads of southeastern France on November 14 and 15, 2019. At least one person has been killed and 300 000 customers left without electricity.

Reports mentioned many roads blocked and extremely slow movement on major routes throughout the Rhone-Alpes region on Thursday, November 14, with thousands of truck drivers stranded after A7 was closed for heavy goods vehicles.

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