Days of torrential rain and flooding have killed one person in Austria

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VIENNA – Torrential rain and severe flooding have battered southern Austria for the past three days, killing one person who was swept away by a rapidly swelling river on Sunday, officials said.

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After the person fell into the river, the fire brigade, divers and water rescuers immediately began rescue operations, as announced by the press department of the state of Carinthia. But the rescuers could only recover the body.

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Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer expressed his condolences on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, saying that “our thoughts are with the loved ones” of the person killed.

Since Friday, the southern Austrian states of Carinthia and Styria have been badly hit by torrential rain, landslides and rising rivers, with water pouring into buildings. Several villages were evacuated.

Army soldiers are assisting emergency responders in the salvage effort. They pump water, evacuate civilians and set up emergency shelters. A total of 2,500 firefighters were deployed in Carinthia and another 2,500 in Styria, the Austria Press Agency reported.

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A large landslide hit a small village in the southern state of Styria late Sunday evening, moving or burying half of its buildings, local media reported.

Nehammer announced on Saturday that the Austrian government will release money from its disaster relief fund to support people in the affected regions.

On Sunday, the weather slowly began to calm down, but the water continued to flow and the risk of landslides remained high.

Extreme weather events and flooding have also affected neighboring Slovenia. Prime Minister Robert Golob described it as a “record flood” that could be the biggest since Slovenia’s independence in 1991.