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Hallein in Austria (photo taken on July 18): the old town is flooded
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Alexander Eisenmann is about to secure his house against the water masses when he sees two people on the flooded street trying desperately not to be swept away by the floods. What happens then, he told the station »Kronehit«, among other things, a video documents the dramatic seconds in Hallein, Austria. Eisenmann runs to the two of them, gives them his arm, and they are aborted together - luckily into a courtyard, where they get back on their feet.
"Had we been driven further in the direction of Kothbach, we could not have done much about it," said Eisenmann.
"Then it would have turned out really, really stupid," he told the "Bild".
At first he did not even realize that the two people in the flood were his neighbors, the Karaaslan spouses.
Now he is happy that it went well and that the neighbors are also doing well.
On Twitter, the Turkish ambassador to Austria thanked Eisenmann, who risked his own life to save the couple.
The video shows the dramatic proportions that the floods have assumed in Austria over the past few days. It had rained like a torrent in Salzburg, Tyrol and the capital Vienna. There, too, the fire brigades were in constant use. The Austrian news agency APA reported that civil protection alarms had been triggered in the city of Hallein, as well as in Mittersill im Pinzgau and Kufstein in Tyrol. In the city of Salzburg, flood protection was built along the Salzach. In Kufstein, people were asked not to leave buildings and to retreat to higher floors. In the urban area, the water from the tributaries of the Inn has already reached the streets. Part of the Felbertauernstrasse was closed due to possible landslides.
In Vienna, heavy rain and thunderstorms caused the fire brigades to be very busy.
Mostly the emergency services were called because of flooded cellars or underpasses.
"In the meantime the situation has calmed down, the level of the Danube is stable," fire brigade spokesman Christian Feiler gave the all-clear for Vienna on Monday morning, as the ORF reported.
According to "Der Standard", the clean-up work started on Monday in many parts of Lower Austria, Tyrol, Salzburg and Upper Austria.
The weather situation has improved slightly here, the emergency services spoke of a relatively quiet night.
Chancellor Kurz promised those affected at the weekend help and thanked all emergency services.
Flood protection project could not be implemented
Hallein in the Salzburger Land, where Alexander Eisenmann saved his neighbors, is one of the places that has probably been most seriously damaged so far. The Kothbach, which flows through the city, developed into a raging river, cars, car tires, garbage cans and tree trunks were driven through the old town. Mayor Alexander Stangassinger (SPÖ) spoke on Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) of millions in losses and asked for donations on Facebook. The situation remains tense here. The authorities have now secured lower parts of the 22,000-inhabitant city on the Bavarian border against renewed flooding, reports Bayerischer Rundfunk. Several dozen residents of a settlement had to vacate their apartments.
Years ago, a flood protection project was supposed to be implemented in Hallein, but the Nature Conservation Union repeatedly lodged complaints, as reported by the "Salzburger Nachrichten". A new road and a hiking trail would have had to be built for the project. The project devoured 800 cubic meters of concrete and caused 800 tons of CO₂, said the head of the Naturschutzbund in March 2020 in the "Salzburger Nachrichten". The landowners concerned rejected a "gentler" option. According to Mayor Stangassinger, most of the accident could have been prevented if the project had been implemented.
Agriculture Minister Elisabeth Köstinger (ÖVP) also said that the flood could have been prevented. The approval process for the flood protection project in Hallein has been running since 2016 and "could not be implemented by the end of 2020 due to objections from the Salzburg Nature Conservation Union," the ORF quoted the minister as saying. The Naturschutzbund contradicts: There has been an objection to a sub-area, and the association has developed an alternative which, according to torrent and avalanche control, would have been equally effective and equally expensive, but more gentle on the landscape and more environmentally friendly.
The savior of Hallein, Alexander Eisenmann, is now celebrated for his commitment as a hero.
Numerous Turkish politicians thanked Eisenmann for saving the Turkish couple.
"In the situation you just act, you don't think about it," Eisenmann told the Kronen Zeitung.
“You have to make such a decision quickly, of course, and I just ran off, knowing that the power of the water couldn't really cope with the power of the water.” Eisenmann also thanked all of the helpers.
Friends, acquaintances, complete strangers helped and then even the family cat turned up again.
With material from dpa
