Disaster Preparedness in the Austrian Alps

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENNA 000725

SIPDIS

CA/OCS for KChristman; EUR/AGS for VVikmanis-Keller,
DS/IP/EUR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CASC ASEC AEMR AU
SUBJECT: Disaster Preparedness in the Austrian Alps


1. Summary: On March 2 and 3, 2005, ConGen and RSO
visited the Tyrolean capital of Innsbruck for briefings
on disaster preparedness by state government officials.
A tour of the State Fire Fighting Institute specifically
included, at our request, tunnel fire rescues. We then
visited the Avalanche Crisis Center to learn how
avalanche warnings are issued, and what resources are
brought to bear on avalanche rescues. The Avalanche
Crisis Center also monitors radiation levels, earthquake
activity, flooding and flash floods, wildfires and
mountain rescues. Authorities seemed to have significant
funding for their programs. They have made detailed
plans to deal with catastrophic events, including
training, equipment pre-positioning and regular
maintenance and monitoring. The personal contacts
established by this visit with further enhance our
ability to deal effectively with disasters in this
region. The RSO also took the opportunity to pay a call
on the head of Landesamt fr Verfassungsschutz und
Terrorismusbek?pfung (LVT) Dr. Spoer who is in charge of
the protection of visiting VIP's and all counter
terrorism activities in this region of Austria. End
Summary.


2. A state of about 600,000 inhabitants, Tyrol has more
than 40 million hotel over-nights a year, and is a major
tourist destination for both winter sports and summer
vacations. The Inn Valley, which cuts through Tyrol, is
one of the major transit routes for North-South travel in
Europe. Sixty percent of Austrian avalanche deaths occur
in Tyrol, a reflection of the percentage of tourism it
receives. The Consular Section has only a few Amcits
registered as living in Tyrol, but some U.S. companies,
such as Motorola, are located in the state. We estimate
that in the peak months of July and August, over 24,000
Americans may be present in Austria on any given day,
many of them in the Tyrolean Alps.


3. ConGen and RSO had requested briefings on several
topics, including preparations for tunnel fires. State
fire fighting authorities gave us a tour of the 3-year
old fire-fighting institute in Telfs, where they have
built a tunnel for training fire fighters on both train
and automotive tunnels. They estimate the chances of a
train tunnel fire to be very low, especially as train
engineers are taught to pull through the tunnel at all
costs before stopping. Their focus is therefore on
automotive tunnels, of which there are many in this
alpine state.


4. All fire fighters except those in the capital city of
Innsbruck are volunteers. Every one of the Tyrolean
municipalities that has a tunnel entrance in its district
receives special training specifically on tunnel fires.
Special equipment for entering and remaining in tunnels
for up to 4 hours has been pre-positioned in these
communities. The equipment is tested annually. Newer
tunnels have exits every 50 meters, taking pedestrian to
safe areas. They also have oxygen detectors to alert the
local fire station to possible fires. Since Austrian
entry into the EU, Tyrolean authorities no longer know
what hazardous cargo may be transported through the
state, so they train for various kinds of fires and
conditions.


5. The Avalanche Crisis Center in Innsbruck monitors the
slopes through 80 different automatic weather stations
located both on peaks and on the slopes, checking the
snow depth, slope conditions and wind speeds. The staff
then issues a warning level for the day, and broadcasts
on the radio by 0735 every morning from November to
April. They also update the center's website, send text
messages, email a list-server and fax warnings to
subscribers. A map a www.lawine.at shows the degree of
slope of every ski slope as well as the warning level for
each slope every day during the snow season. The public
is invited to contact the Center by email with comments
on back-country conditions. The staff also makes 150
trips to the slopes a year to monitor snow conditions.


6. According to the center's staff, up to 85 per cent of
avalanche deaths are avoidable. They usually occur when
skiers or snowboards ignore posted warnings and attempt
to use slopes which are steeper than 35 degrees when
warning levels are above level 3 on a 5 point scale. The
worst avalanche conditions occur in March, when
fatalities are also the highest, but hundreds of
avalanches of varying sizes occur on Tyrolean slopes
every day between November and April. The popularity of
extreme sports has led to an increase of adventurers
going off-piste or into remote areas, with a resulting
increase in avalanche fatalities. Avalanche victims may
be charged for the rescue costs in sports-related
rescues. State prosecutors may bring criminal charges
against people who cause avalanches that endanger lives.


7. There are 17 helicopter rescue companies operating in
Tyrol. Every municipality that could be affected by an
avalanche must have an alarm plan as well as a rescue
plan. Each mayor heads the local crisis team. Local
authorities are charged with determining when the ski
slopes should close due to avalanche threat, and may also
close roads for the short or long term based on the
threat level. There is a mountain rescue unit for every
municipality which works with local military offices to
conduct rescues throughout the year.


8. As Tyrol's only 24-hour, 7-day crisis center, the
Avalanche Crisis Center has taken on other duties as
well. For instance, it monitors earthquake activity,
which results from the African Plate meeting the European
Plate in the Inn Valley. It also monitors radiation
levels throughout the state. It can activate 1000 sirens
located in the 279 municipalities throughout the state in
order to alert people to threats. These sirens are
tested monthly. The sirens signal the local population
to check radio and television for warnings regarding
flash floods, high water, wild fires and other
catastrophes. Recently the Center was tasked with
serving as the call center for Tyrolean families wanting
information about relatives caught up in the tsunamis in
the Indian Ocean region. Center staff have been issued
specially made Motorola cell phones that provide them
with by-the-minute information on weather conditions,
slope conditions and other useful information from the
internet.


9. Embassy Comment: The Tyrolean authorities we met were
definitely pleased by the Embassy interest and eager to
answer our questions. They were satisfied with the
support they received from the state government and felt
they had adequate resources. They appear to have planned
in detail for a wide range of catastrophes and mass
casualties. They train continuously and test equipment
often. They use many different means to alert the public
to potential dangers, including the internet, emails, and
text messaging. This trip expands on the personal
contacts that already exist between our local staff and
the Tyrolean authorities. Meeting the relevant
authorities and showing the USG's interest will certainly
pay off when we need to respond to disasters in Tyrol,
and has already facilitated communication in individual
cases. End Comment. Brown