Snow removal against the clock.

At the district fire department command in Amstetten in Lower Austria, man and machine alike are battling the masses of snow. One of the most important tools: the all-terrain Unimog.

Day after day, around 300 helpers from the fire department and the Federal Armed Forces work at an altitude of 1,400 m to free the buildings and lift installations at the valley station of the popular Hochkar ski resort from the masses of snow. Time and again they have to be deployed to Styria in Austria and prioritize their relief efforts according to urgency.

One of the biggest problems is the many roofs buried under metres of snow, which are difficult to free of their weight. For the emergency crews this work is not without risk. In some hard-to-reach places the snow must be removed from roof ledges by hand with shovels and brooms. With hooks and ropes the helpers must repeatedly secure themselves against falling.

For large or especially high-lying areas heavy machinery is required. Many commercial vehicles, however, cannot even reach the sites of operation because of the deep snow. That is when a special kind of snow angel comes into play. Thus the district fire department in Amstetten tackles the white burden with two all-terrain Unimog. Equipped with a crane superstructure and clamshell buckets, the special trucks support the emergency teams in heavy clearance operations.

Persistent snowfall can quickly become a problem in vulnerable regions. Eyewitnesses from Styria reported in January 2019 that some buildings were no longer recognisable because they had been completely snowed in. In some places the snow is more than 4 m deep and seals front doors and windows. So before roofs can be cleared of snow loads, the building entrances must first be made accessible.

Because of the masses of snow, power lines have also been interrupted. The result: a total power failure paralysed households in the disaster area at Hochkar. But the well-equipped response teams from the fire service and the Federal Armed Forces can restore not only lighting but also heating, kitchens and communications. They also carry out numerous clearing operations to ensure safe access routes and buildings.

Depending on the amount and temperature, the density and weight of snow can vary greatly: while freshly fallen powder snow weighs only 30 to 50 kg per square metre, metre-high wet old snow can quickly impose ten times that load on a building roof. In this way, snow can load a roof with up to 1 tonne per square metre or more. If this snow load is not removed quickly, there is an acute risk of collapse.

In the course of their work the helpers sometimes find themselves in dangerous situations. Thus, on the Hochkar Alpine Road, which is open only to emergency personnel, a snowstorm traps some of the teams: around 180 people are at times cut off while working at Hochkar and have to spend the night on site. The affected section of the gorge can only be made passable again by blasting and by triggering controlled avalanches.

But the experienced emergency personnel stay calm and do their best. Not least thanks to the important help of the two red Unimog, the district fire brigade command in Amstetten can report a successful outcome. As the weather situation eases somewhat, the power grid is quickly restored, roofs are cleared and roads made passable. The tourist region can once again welcome guests and begin to enjoy the white splendor.