Severe thunderstorms hit Austria, claiming 5 lives

Severe thunderstorms with winds gusting up to 100 km/h (62 mph) hit parts of Austria on August 18, 2022, claiming the lives of five people, including two children.

Two girls, aged four and eight, were killed and 13 injured, two of them seriously, when strong winds toppled trees at a lake in Carinthia state. In Lower Austria, three women were killed when lightning struck a tree near the town of Gaming, causing it to fall.¹

The storms caused a major power outage that forced the national railway company OeBB to suspend train services.

About 65 000 households across the country were left without electricity.

Before reaching Austria, this storm system left 5 people dead in Corsica, France, and 2 in Tuscany, Italy.^{2, 3}

On Friday, August 19, German weather officials warned extremely abundant, prolonged rain along the edge of the Alps could drop as much as 140 mm (5.5 inches) over a 48-hour period that could cause flooding.⁴

Air rescue services have been placed on heightened alert.

References:

¹ Storms kill 5, cause power outage in Austria – Xinhua – August 19, 2022

² Severe thunderstorms drops large hail on Liguria, leaves 2 people dead in Tuscany, Italy – The Watchers – August 17, 2022

³ Severe thunderstorms hit Corsica, leaving 5 people dead and at least 13 injured, France – The Watchers – August 18, 2022

⁴ Weather warning in Germany after Europe storms kill 12 – ABC – August 19, 2022

Featured image credit: EUMETSAT/Meteosat, Zoom Earth, The Watchers. Acquired at 03:45 UTC on August 19, 2022.