Floods, Northern Lights, Lugner: These Events Shaped Austria in 2024
The chronicle year 2024 was characterized by climate issues with floods in Eastern Austria and other parts of Europe, heat records, and a controversial "yes" from Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler (Green) to the EU's renaturation regulation. Josef F. is transferred to normal custody and the Viennese construction and society lion Richard Lugner dies less than three months after his sixth wedding. A debate about youth crime and the age of criminal responsibility also ignites. The most important events in review:
Century Flood
From September 14th, heavy rainfall causes floods in Austria, especially in the east. In Lower Austria, five people die and several flooded communities are declared disaster areas. Levels are reached that sometimes go beyond a 100-year flood.
In Vienna, according to data on the Vienna River, there is even a 1,000-year flood event, the subway has to partially stop operations. The Westbahn route and the Tullnerfeld station in Lower Austria are also flooded, leading to diversions and train cancellations. Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia are also heavily affected by the storms and floods in mid-September.
More than 220 people die in floods in Spain on October 29. Almost all of the victims die in the Valencia region. In view of the many victims, a temporary morgue is set up at the fairgrounds in the regional capital. About 80 communities west and south of Valencia are heavily devastated. A dispute over political responsibility ensues. More than 100,000 people subsequently demonstrate in Valencia against the flood mismanagement.
Environmental Policy
On June 17, the EU Renaturation Regulation is adopted in the Council of EU States. The narrow majority is also made possible by the approval of Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler (Green), who thus acts against the will of her coalition partner ÖVP. By 2030, national restoration measures for at least 30 percent, by 2040 for at least 60 percent, and by 2050 for at least 90 percent of the damaged areas of land, coastal, and freshwater ecosystems are to be implemented.
Heat Records in Austria and Worldwide
As in the previous year, new heat records are reached worldwide and locally in Austria. July 22, 2024, with a global average temperature of 17.15 degrees according to the EU climate change service Copernicus, is the hottest day ever recorded on Earth. 2024 is almost certain to be the first year since records began in which the global average was more than 1.5 degrees warmer than in the pre-industrial average, Copernicus announced on November 7.
On April 7, the earliest heat day with at least 30 degrees in a calendar year in Austria's measurement history is recorded. In Bruck an der Mur in Styria, exactly 30.0 degrees are reached. According to Geosphere Austria, Austria is also heading for the hottest year in measurement history.
JOSEF F. IN NORMAL DETENTION
A hearing of Josef F., who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the Amstetten case and admitted to an institution for mentally abnormal lawbreakers in Krems, ends with conditional release from the measure enforcement (January 25). He is no longer considered dangerous, requiring accommodation in a forensic therapeutic center, it is said. F. is moved to a cell in normal detention within the Stein prison.
SHOCKING BLOODY ACTS WITH MULTIPLE DEATHS
On October 28, a mayor from the region and a 64-year-old former hunting leader are shot in Altenfelden in the Upper Austrian Mühlviertel and in Arnreit. After the double murder, 50 people are put under police protection who had differences with the initially fled perpetrator. An intensive search for the 56-year-old only yields a result after five days when he is found dead in a forest. The exact time of the suicide is unclear.
On February 23, a man in Vienna-Brigittenau kills three sex workers with a knife. The 27-year-old Afghan is arrested. According to a psychiatric report, he has pronounced paranoid schizophrenia and was not accountable at the time of the crime. On November 25, he is admitted to a forensic therapeutic center at the Vienna Regional Court.
In an apartment in Vienna-Landstraße, a 51-year-old woman and her 13-year-old daughter are also found dead on February 23. The suspected family father drives to Slovenia after the act and commits suicide.
On February 3, three dead bodies are discovered in an apartment in Bad Vöslau (Baden district) in Lower Austria. The police assume a double murder and suicide. The 77-year-old resident is believed to have shot his two guests and set his apartment on fire. The motive remains unclear.
CHILDREN KILLED BY MOTHERS
On August 14, two girls aged five and eight and their 29-year-old mother are found dead in a single-family house in the Tulln district. The woman is believed to have suffocated her children and committed suicide. Her partner (34), who was found dead a few days later, also committed suicide. According to the police, he is not connected with the act.
On November 17, a four-year-old is killed in Vienna-Favoriten by his mother through stab and cut injuries. The 29-year-old woman, who confessed to the crime, is placed in pre-trial detention. The woman had previously sought help for mental health issues.
On November 21, a baby about a week old disappears from the Vienna Clinic Favoriten. The girl is found dead the next day in a waste container in front of the hospital. The 30-year-old mother confesses to the crime and cites "family problems" as the motive in her interrogation.
ACQUITTAL AFTER DEATH IN TIROLER ACHE
The murder trial against a 39-year-old, whose six-year-old son was found dead in the Kitzbüheler Ache in St. Johann in the summer of 2022, ends with an acquittal for the father (1.8.). The eight jurors unanimously find the German, who had been in pre-trial detention for a year and a half, not guilty of having thrown the boy into the Ache, thereby killing him and faking a robbery. The public prosecutor's office waives the right to appeal.
DEBATE ABOUT AGE OF CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY
In Vienna, the repeated sexual abuse of a then twelve-year-old girl from the previous year becomes known (29.2.). There are more than a dozen suspects, some of whom are not criminally responsible. However, investigations are being conducted against several boys. Against the backdrop of the case, a debate arises about the age of criminal responsibility of 14 years. The ÖVP wants to lower this to twelve years for serious violent crimes and for repeat offenders. This is rejected by the Green coalition partner. The first trial in the case against a 17-year-old for rape begins on November 26.
SUBWAY SURFERS AND U1 FIRE
A 17-year-old and an 18-year-old die when they illegally ride on the roof of a train on the Vienna subway line U4 and crash into a pedestrian bridge (29.10.). The two Czechs each succumb to their injuries in the hospital days later. The so-called subway surfers were with two locals, one of whom, a 16-year-old, escapes with minor injuries, a 13-year-old boy remains unharmed.
On the afternoon of November 19, a Vienna subway train on the U1 line catches fire while operating as a special train without passengers. The driver and five other employees of the Vienna Lines are injured. The fire department extinguishes the fire in the tunnel between the Südtiroler Platz/Hauptbahnhof and Taubstummengasse stations.
SOLAR STORM AND NORTHERN LIGHTS
In mid-May, Earth experiences the strongest solar storm since 2003. Impressive northern lights can be seen as far as Austria. Internet users in many other countries post photos of the brightly lit night sky. Northern lights are usually only seen closer to the North and South poles.
FUNERAL OF CONSTRUCTION MAGNATE RICHARD LUGNER
Viennese builder and society lion Richard Lugner dies on August 12 at the age of 91. He will be remembered mainly for the international star guests he brought to the Opera Ball every year for a lot of money.
Lugner has been married six times, most recently on June 1, 2024, to his partner Simone. On August 31, Lugner is bid farewell in a public memorial service in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna with great participation and is then buried in a smaller circle at the Grinzing Cemetery.
TERROR ALERT AT TAYLOR SWIFT'S VIENNA CONCERT
After a major operation by the executive in the Lower Austrian municipality of Ternitz on August 7, it becomes known that a young Islamist had planned an attack on a concert by US superstar Taylor Swift. The singer's three shows at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna are cancelled for security reasons. The suspect and an alleged accomplice are in custody.
Islamic terrorism also occupies the security forces in other cases. For example, Lorenz K., the IS terrorist sentenced to nine years in prison in 2018, is given another 16 years.
The young man who had planned an attack on Vienna's main train station is arrested again in November after he continued to recruit for the Islamic State following his release. In Graz, a 14-year-old girl is convicted who wanted to kill "infidels" from her point of view in the center of the Styrian state capital.
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.