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A tornado left a trail of devastation in the southeastern Czech Republic on Thursday. The exact death toll was initially unknown, according to rescue officials. The hospital in Hodonin (Göding) reported about 200 injured.
In several villages, roofs were covered, window panes were broken and cars were tossed around, CT television reported Thursday evening. Several buses were overturned in the storm in southern Moravia, it said.
The situation there is like a war, Health Minister Adam Vojtech said on TV. Several buses overturned in the storm in southern Moravia near the border with Austria, CT TV reported. All available emergency forces were on their way to the region, Interior Minister Jan Hamacek said. “Everything that has arms and legs is heading there.”
Several rescue squadrons with dogs were en route to the area of operation to search for possible trapped people in buildings. Firefighters were going house to house. “There is great chaos here, great panic,” an eyewitness in the municipality of Luzice (Luschitz) told CT radio. Many houses were said to be in danger of collapse. Police closed access roads to several places to keep onlookers away.
The deputy mayor of the village of Hrusky told the CTK agency that half the village was razed to the ground. Hailstones the size of tennis balls fell in the administrative districts of Breclav and Hodonin, according to reports on social media. The D2 highway, which runs from Brno to Breclav, was impassable because high-voltage power lines had fallen onto the roadway. Rescue helicopters were on their way from Austria, as well as several Red Cross vehicles, including an emergency ambulance. Neighboring Slovakia also offered assistance.
Tennis ball-sized hailstones
Throughout the evening, heavy summer thunderstorms moved through southern Moravia, which is known for its wine-growing regions. Emergency lines were overloaded. Tennis ball-sized hailstones fell in the administrative districts of Breclav (Lundenburg) and Hodonin, according to reports on social media. Millions in damage was caused to Valtice Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Numerous window panes shattered at the 17th-century baroque building
The D2 highway running from Brno to Breclav was impassable because a high-voltage line had fallen onto the roadway. Around 32,000 households were without electricity. The government in Prague put army forces on standby for a possible relief mission. According to spokesman Andreas Zenker, the Red Cross of Lower Austria was on duty in the Czech Republic with 32 vehicles. The ÖAMTC dispatched the emergency helicopters “Christophorus 2” and “Christophorus 9”. There was talk that injured people from the neighboring country could be brought to the Landesklinikum Mistelbach. With regard to possible patients, all other clinics in the Weinviertel, those in St. Pölten and Wiener Neustadt, as well as Viennese hospitals were also pre-informed, the APA learned. Help was also offered by neighboring Slovakia.
“Doomsday mood” in Hollabrunn
Meanwhile, in the Hollabrunn area, a storm on Thursday evening called for the deployment of some 650 members of a total of 50 fire departments. Tennis ball-sized hailstones damaged dozens of roofs and cars, some of them severely. One speaks of “doomsday mood”, said Franz Resperger of the regional command of Lower Austria. In the course of the evening, Schrattenberg near Poysdorf (Mistelbach district) was hit by foothills of a powerful thunderstorm cell in the Czech Republic.
In the border community of more than 800 inhabitants, about half of all house roofs were covered, according to Resperger. Hail fell as well as massive rain. Properties were flooded. Helpers spoke of a “picture of devastation,” Resperger said. The provincial firefighters association was in the evening hours with tarpaulins from Tulln on the way to the northern Weinviertel. Damaged houses in Schrattenberg were to be provisionally protected.
In the district of Hollabrunn, the storm had not only bent trees, but also telephone and power lines, Resperger described. In addition, there was heavy rain, several cellars and underpasses were flooded.
Also plagued by storms on Thursday evening was the district of Zwettl. Here, according to the spokesman, ten fire departments were in action. Heavy hailstones were registered, among others, near the district town.
Heavy hailstorms led to millions in damage in Austrian agriculture. “Currently, we assume a total damage to agricultural crops in the provinces of Upper Austria and Lower Austria of 28 million euros due to today’s storms,” announced Kurt Weinberger, CEO of the Austrian Hail Insurance. In Styria, there was damage in the amount of 600,000 euros.
— source: diepresse.at/picture: nau.ch
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