Federal army aid missions in Austria continue - Mission in Slovenia ended

2023-08-12 11:13:47

Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner: “I would like to thank all the forces, especially our soldiers”

Vienna (OTS) – Since Friday, August 4th, up to 400 soldiers have been on assistance missions in Carinthia, Styria and Burgenland. Despite the easing of the disaster situation, 43 soldiers and one helicopter are currently deployed in Styria and 120 in Carinthia. Since Wednesday, August 9th, two helicopters of the federal army have been helping Slovenia to cope with the flood disaster – today the two transport helicopters are ending their relief flights.

“The situation in Austria is still dramatic, more than 160 soldiers are still fighting the consequences of the floods and storms in Carinthia and Styria. The help of our forces is already having an effect when I think of the closed lockdowns that have been cleared, of the thousands of sandbags that our soldiers filled, of the temporary bridge that was built or of the ferry that now reconnects trapped towns with their outside world . I would like to thank all the forces, especially our soldiers, who are currently standing shoulder to shoulder with the population in Austria and Slovenia every day. Our army does an enormous amount and is there for the Austrians around the clock. Austria can be proud of the achievements of its army!” says Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner.

Use in Carinthia

120 soldiers from Engineer Battalion 1 from Villach and the construction/engineering platoon of the Carinthian Military Command are still on duty to help deal with the flood disaster.

A 50-ton ferry has started operating between Rottenstein in the municipality of Ebenthal and Guntschach near Glainach. The access from Guntschach to the ferry was completed with an excavator and a folding road from the army. This means that the residents of Guntschach can now transfer vehicles to Rottenstein. The transport of heavy equipment for torrent and avalanche control in the state of Carinthia is being prepared for Monday. This is intended to stop a landslide in the Guntschach area.

Pioneers operate a passenger ferry service on the Drau for the residents of Glainach.

An Agusta Bell 212 helicopter remains available for reconnaissance and transport flights. The “Black Hawk” has ended its mission in Carinthia. In total, the two army helicopters in Carinthia have transported 263 people and over 19,000 kilograms of cargo in 194 take-offs and landings so far. During the flights, five specialists abseiled down rough terrain using a cable winch from a hovering helicopter.

Use in Styria

In Styria, 43 pioneers are preparing to stabilize sliding slopes with “Krainer walls” and stone boxes. Krainer Walls are hillside fortifications where tree trunks connected to each other provide support for sliding slopes.

Slovenia: Armed Forces helicopters end aid mission

The disaster relief mission of two Federal Army helicopters, an S-70 “Black Hawk” and an Agusta Bell-212 transport helicopter, which has been ongoing since Wednesday, August 9, 2023, in Slovenia will end today in the course of the day.

In close coordination with the crisis coordination of the Slovenian armed forces, they flew relief missions in the Dravograd-Mežica-Črna na Koroškem region, which was particularly hard hit by the storm. In a total of 147 take-offs and landings so far, the two helicopters have transported local specialists to rebuild the power grid and urgently needed goods such as food, medicine, drinking water, baby food, shovels and tools to isolated villages in the Mežica-Žerjav-Črna na Koroškem area. The “Black Hawk” transport helicopter flew an injured young woman to the nearest rescue station and transported two to three tonne sanitary containers to Mežica. In total, the two army helicopters flew 117 people and a load of around 29,000 kilograms.

The helicopter crews picked up the relief supplies south of Slovenj Gradec before they flew them to the locations in the disaster area specified by the Slovenian crisis team. The main challenge of this operation was that the terrain is very impassable and is criss-crossed with numerous obstacles such as power lines. This required the crews in particular to study the maps very carefully in order to avoid collisions.

You can find photos and videos of the assistance missions of the Austrian army in Austria and the help in Slovenia on flickr, Facebook and bundesheer.at.