Sturmchaos in Gaißau: Sicking the marquee - six injuries!

Sturmchaos in Gaißau: Sicking the marquee - six injuries!

On June 15, 2025, Vorarlberg, Vorarlberg, occurred in a serious incident during a festival of the volunteer fire brigade when a violent storm affected the marquee. This was caused by a strong gust of wind that lasted about 15 seconds and led to the collapse of the approximately 10 x 20 meter tent. At that time there were around 20 people in the tent. Six people suffered minor injuries, four of them had to be taken to the hospital - two in the LKH Bregenz and two to the KH Dornbirn. The Red Cross took over the medical care of the injuries.

The alarm of the emergency services followed at 7:55 p.m. after a witness reported the storm damage. Immediately 50 firefighters and 48 emergency services of the Red Cross started looking for people and cleaning up. Fortunately, nobody was buried under the rubble of the tent, but the breakdown caused damage to two cars, two mopeds and several bicycles. Four strips of the federal police were also involved in the mission, which supported the situation on site.

storm in Western Austria

The accident in Gaißau was part of a larger chaos by violent storms, Western Austria, especially Vorarlberg and Tyrol, were severely affected on the same weekend. In Vorarlberg, the fire brigades had to deploy in around 40 places to remove damage caused by strong gusts of wind, heavy rain and fallen trees. In other communities such as Feldkirch and Rankweil, roads were blocked and power lines were damaged.

Another incident occurred in Bludenz, where a tree threatened to fall to vehicles, and a stream in Klösterle stepped over the bank. In Tyrol, too, the weather was uncomfortable, with violent rain showers and again strong gusts of wind. There were about 30 fire brigade missions, but luckily without injuries.

background to natural disasters

Such extreme weather events are not only to be viewed locally. According to Statista, the consequences of natural disasters such as storms and floods are globally present and increasing through climate change. Definitions of natural disasters include a high number of affected people or significant economic damage. Examples of such extreme weather phenomena are earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and storms that have had devastating effects worldwide in recent years

Overall, the incident in Gaißau shows that even in Austria the risk of storms and their consequences is present. With the increase in extreme weather events, it is all the more important that both the population and emergency services are well prepared for such scenarios.