Masses of water surprise father and daughter on a via ferrata: the emergency call is interrupted - difficult rescue

Hail, heavy rain and gusts of wind - storms caused damage in Austria.

Two hikers in a gorge were surprised by the rapidly rising floods of water.

Klagenfurt - Thunderstorms hit large parts of Austria on the weekend.

After mudslides, towns in Styria were temporarily cut off from the outside world and roads had to be closed.

From strong gusts of wind up to 110 km / h, hailstorms with heavy rain caused numerous firefighting operations in Lower Austria.

Manhole covers were lifted and the shafts overflowed, reports the ORF.

Storm in Austria: father and daughter surprised by masses of water

Floods brought two vacationers in Carinthia into an alpine emergency.

A father (47) and his daughter (16) were surprised by rapidly rising water masses in the Pirkachklamm near Oberdrauburg.

The two vacationers set out on a tour of the via ferrata in the gorge at around 7 p.m. on Saturday.

At around 9 p.m., the two of them still had telephone contact with their wife and mother, the Carinthia police said.

They said everything was still okay, even though the area was already experiencing heavy rainfall at the time.

Mountain rescue campaign in Pirkachklamm (Karten): holidaymakers dressed in shorts and a T-shirt

Less than 20 minutes later - shortly after 9:30 p.m. - the two hikers made an emergency call.

Then the phone connection was lost, the police said.

Rescue workers were able to find the father and daughter around 11.30 p.m.

The two vacationers were very hypothermic and completely soaked - they were only dressed in shorts and a T-shirt.

However, the two Belgians refused a medical examination.

At the time of the rescue operation, there was heavy rain and thunderstorms.

"18 men from the Oberes Drautal mountain rescue team, police officers and the Libelle FLIR police helicopter were deployed," said the Carinthian police.