Severe Floods and Rockfall in Tyrol

Austrian Monarchy.

Tyrol.

Innsbruck, 1 September. According to incoming reports, the Etsch reached a height of 14 feet in Trient on 30 August at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and the fields were 5 to 6 feet under water. From Laag to the old Kurtinig riverbed of the Etsch, the river broke through in three places; the highway is up to 6 feet under water from Laag to Salurn and Cadino. In the district of Schlanders, the Vintschgau road has been damaged and rendered impassable in 21 places by torrents, washouts, and collapses. In the district of Meran, the highway near Sigmundskron was flooded 3 feet high by the Etsch and buried in 8 places by mountain torrents. In the Pusterthal, the Rienz caused damage to the highway near Höhlenstein and near Welsberg.

Botzen, 29 August. On the 19th of this month, between 2 and 3 o'clock in the morning, a rockfall occurred near Steg, lasting for three quarters of an hour. The highway was covered over a length of one hundred Klafters with rock boulders of immense size; the debris rises on average five Klafters above the road. The Eisack river, choked with such masses of stone, became so dammed up that the sawmills of Blumau came to a standstill for lack of water; the accumulated water poured over the meadow on the left bank, which was soon destroyed and turned into a riverbed. Through the skilled leadership of the k. k. road master Patscheider and with the greatest effort, the road was reopened to traffic as early as the 25th; meanwhile, the danger of a further rockfall is reportedly not yet removed.

Trient, 30 August. In the night of the 28th of this month, rain caused the Etsch to rise; the thunderstorm rains continued for 50 hours, and today the river reached a height of 13 ½ Vienna feet. This is the third flood this year to afflict the city and its surroundings along the river; the lower quarters of the town alla Portella and San Martins are underwater, houses had to be evacuated, the bridge is in danger. In the Campo trentino, communication with the city is maintained by boats, and food is sent by them to the more distant farmsteads. The mighty mass of water has torn down the walls near Centa, rolling a portion of the waves with fury through the lush mulberry and vine plantations. The Noce, the Avisio, and the Fersina have risen to threatening heights; the latter has torn away the left bank below the bridge for a length of about 30 Klafters, the Noce destroyed the emergency bridge alla Longajola again, and the Avisio swept much timber stock from the Riccabona Holzlende into the Etsch. Near Ala and al Vò, the highway is likewise underwater. All communication along it as far as Botzen is severed. The Etsch is still rising steadily, the rain continues, and deplorable devastations are still to be feared.