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28. 02. 12. - 14:00

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28. 02. 12. - 14:00

Floody Freezing

Michael Leidig

Flood chaos has swamped huge parts of Austria after record snowfalls melted in a spring thaw, leaving some neighbourhoods under several feet of water.

Weather experts say the freeze had been so deep - with temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius - that although the surface snow is melting, the ground is still solid ice which means it can't soak up the floodwater.

One small community - Maria Buch Feistritz in Upper Styria - found itself almost entirely underwater in less than 15 minutes.

Others - like the Speilberg district - found themselves caught by instant flash floods.

"Within ten minutes around 70 hectares of homes, businesses and land was suddenly underwater," explained local emergency operations head Gerald Stengg.

Hundreds of firemen have been working round the clock to divert the rapidly rising flood waters and evacuate thousands of residents and livestock

"We pumped around 30,000 litres of melt water from the buildings every minute, enough for more than 3,000 baths per minute. We can only hope it gets a bit colder again," said local fire service spokesman Thomas Zeiler.

Tragic Ski Girl Dies
A 10-year-old British schoolgirl has died after skiing into a tree at high speed during a family holiday tragedy in the Austrian Alps.

Peak Performance
Police chiefs in Hamburg, Germany, are celebrating after new crime figures showed there wasn't a single bank robbery in the city last year.

Chinese Fakeaway
Chinese property developers who've been thwarted in a bid to buy up an entire Austrian village have settled on the next best thing - an entire life-sized replica.

Austrian children help Romanian kids
A charity project run by the middle school in Hippach has been recognised with an award for its social work by officials in Tyrol.

Mother kills disabled daughter because she couldnt take care of her any longer
A Romanian woman killed her 8 year-old disabled daughter on Wednesday (yesterday)because she couldn't pay for her care, Libertatea newspaper reports.

Policeman accused of sex with the son of his girlfriend
A Policeman from Vulcan, Western Romania is currently being investigated for having sex with a minor, the son of his girlfriend, Cancan newspaper informs today (Thurs).

Serial killer survivor walks away alive after fall
An 85 year-old woman who survived the most cruel and notorious serial killer in Romania some 40 years ago, recently fell from the first floor of her apartment building and she walked away safe and sound, Cancan newspaper reports today (Thurs).

The son of Qatar Airlines BA beaten up in Romania
The son of the Board of Administration of Qatar Airlines Akbar Al Baker, was beaten up over the weekend at the launching party of a posh club in Mamaia, at the Romanian Black Sea shore, Cancan newspaper reports.

Majority starts president’s suspension procedures
A day after the Social Liberal Union (USL) legislators dismissed with a large majority of votes the two Speakers of the Parliament, the Union started today the procedures for the suspension and possible impeachment of President Traian Basescu. This is the second time when the Parliament asks for Basescu’s suspension.

Some 177 Roma repatriated by French authorities to Romania
Some 177 Romanian citizens of Roma origin were repatriated on Tuesday night from Lille, France, Romania TV news channel informs today (Weds).