The Weilheim-Schongau district is cleaning up.
A week after a storm supercell left a swath of devastation in the woods and fields, the affected communities clear what was left of the storm.
District
- Reinald Huber is especially sorry about the beautiful, old oaks.
“It just twisted it off,” says the mayor of Söchering.
The community is busy cleaning up a week after a storm supercell swept across the county.
The EVA waste disposal has created space for the citizens for green waste and damaged wood, "quickly and generously", as Huber emphasizes.
The place is now helping to repair the damage.
After severe storms: Place together helps to repair damage
A specialist company from Kochel is chopping broken wood right on the roadside, reports Huber.
Some dangerous work, such as removing damaged wood in the forests, requires experts (see box).
The Office for Food, Agriculture and Forests (AELF) estimates that 15 to 20,000 cubic meters of wood fell in the area of the storm lane.
“Wood that can be sawn comes into the sawmill.
A bit of luck in an accident is that a lot of fresh wood is needed, ”says Martin Kainz.
Broken wood is a case for the chopper - also to minimize the risk of bark beetle infestation.
Storm in the district of Weilheim-Schongau: A lot of damaged wood is chopped up
The Peiting road maintenance depot also has a lot of damaged wood chopped up.
Most of it cannot be processed into firewood, says Claudia Immisch.
Most of the damaged wood does not belong to the municipalities or the Free State, but to private individuals.
“We know our paths and roads and in most cases we know who the associated forest owner is.” If not, land maps and programs help with the assignment.
In any case, the road damage is more problematic than the resulting wood.
Mainly the WM 16 between Böbing and Schöffau, the WM 24 from Böbing to the Echelsbacher bridge and the state road 2059 between the Echelsbacher bridge and the Schwaigsee hit it.
In Rottenbuch, the shooters' system in the sports center in particular was damaged.
“The structural damage was assessed, now the shooters have to decide whether the screed has to be removed.
Then it could get more expensive, ”says Mayor Markus Bader.
Both the community and the citizens are "still well employed".
In addition to minor damage to paths, the community forest in Schönberg was hit.
Heavy thunderstorms in the Weilheim-Schongau district: private forests particularly affected
The municipality of Eglfing is also grappling with the consequences of the storm. "In the community and on the paths, everything is largely tidy," says Mayor Martin Fortmaier. Minor road damage still needs to be repaired, many should no longer be. “But it looks bad in the forest.” Here, too, mainly private forests are affected, as well as a few pieces of forest that belong to the community. “We can use some of the wood for our wood chip heating systems,” says Fortmaier. The wood is processed, "then the owners have to decide what to do with it". He fears that the work will drag on until autumn.
There is no help from the district.
District Administrator Andrea Jochner-Weiß was, according to the District Office, “in constant contact” with the civil protection officer responsible on the evening of the storm.
“She got an idea of the damage in Obersöchering.” Two emergency power generators from the district were in use, “no further support was an issue”.
Storm damage a case for experts
Storm damage in the forest is not a case for people and chainsaws: The social insurance for agriculture, forestry and horticulture (SVLFG) warns of an acute risk of accidents. "Forestry laypeople do not have the necessary specialist knowledge, do not have the necessary technology and certainly not have experience in handling storm wood," says Fritz Allinger. As a layperson, the SVLFG defines “almost all private forest owners and almost all rural forest owners”. The processing of problem wood must be carried out by staff trained in forestry. If private individuals are injured during improper clean-up work, the forest owner is responsible.
Reinald Huber estimates that the clean-up work in Söchering will still take around two weeks.
“Overall,” he says, “we got off lightly.” An old plum tree was caught in his garden.
“It's a shame about the trees.
But it could be a lot worse. ”Apart from that, they are already discussing where to plant replacements for the old oaks.
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