Rare ice storm strikes Waldviertel in Austria

© APA/FF OTTENSCHLAG/FICHTINGER

Firefighters preventing a tree from damaging a power line.

Firefighters have been busy clearing away hundreds of trees from the vicinity of homes and power lines. The trees' branches had been bent almost double by the weight of the ice.

The area near Ottenschlag has particularly been hit hard. A combination of very low temperatures and high humidity caused many layers of thick frost to form into heavy ice.

Motorists in the region have been asked to exercise extreme caution due to icy conditions on the roads.

Northeast Fire Department spokesman Franz Resperger described on Sunday how many trees were destroyed by the ice, including some with trunks more than a meter in diameter.

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Traffic chaos

The fire departments around Ottenschlag, Kirchschlag and Kottes were especially busy removing the broken giant trees from roads, roofs and garages.

On Sunday, the B36 state highway had to be temporarily closed because dozens of trees were criss-crossing the street.

Such weather phenomenon is not entirely unknown in the Waldviertel, however few in the fire service could recall so many ice-damaged trees.

Fortunately, no one was injured, but the financial losses have yet to be quantified.