'Catastrophe region': Austrian city faces up to scale of damage left by deadly flooding

Destructive interplay between human influence on rain and land can be seen in municipalities such as St PöltenBy the third night of rain, the situation in the command centre had escalated from tense to critical. Mateusz Fryn, the deputy firefighter chief in St Pölten, Austria, told his colleagues to stop filling sandbags and pumping water out of basements. Instead, it was time to focus on saving lives."It was no longer about acting, it was about reacting," said Fryn, standing in front of a map of the town and pointing to water-logged areas that had needed rescue operations. Continue reading...