Austria
General Election, 29 September 2024
Storm Boris, September 2024
In September 2024, record rainfall caused by Storm Boris hit Central Europe (for four days, from 13 September) and caused floods in Austria, Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary (Kennedy 2024). Austria saw immense destruction to infrastructure and homes, with Lower Austria being one of the worst affected states. As of 18 September 2024, five deaths had been reported. Lower Austria was declared a disaster area. Record amounts of downfall were registered in the area between the Mostviertel and the Vienna Woods, at about 400 mm in 5 days. The rainfall caused dam failures and overflowing rivers, especially in Lower Austria and Vienna (Austrian Government n.d.). Almost 2,000 people had to evacuate their homes and were placed in emergency shelters. Many shelters were in turn flooded, leading to difficulties in providing aid. The Chancellor announced that €1 billion will be distributed to victims of the crisis (Paternoster 2024).
The intensity and duration of the heavy rainfall put immense pressure on civil protection. In today’s climate, which is 1.3°C warmer than at the beginning of the industrial period, a rainfall event of this magnitude is a very rare event expected to occur about once every 100 to 300 years. Europe-wide, the damage was estimated to be several billion Euros( WWA 2024).
Impact on the electoral process
Political parties in Austria had to cancel and postpone campaign events less than two weeks ahead of election day due to the focus on emergency response in the affected areas. Televised debates were postponed as well. Chancellor Karl Nehammer described it as a “pause” in the election campaign, while continuing to visit impacted areas and posting on social media. Additionally, party leaders from the Freedom Party and Social Democrats shared posts of themselves in impacted areas (Murphy 2024).
Bibliography
Austrian Government – Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Regions and Water Management, ‘Das Hochwasserereignis im September 2024 in Österreich’, [The flood event in September 2024 in Austria], [n.d.], < https://www.bmluk.gv.at/themen/wasser/wasser-oesterreich/hydrographie/chronik-besonderer-ereignisse/hochwasser-september-2024.html#:~:text=September%202024%20kam%20es%20erneut%20in%20der%20Folge%20einer%20so>, accessed 10 October 2025
International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), Election Guide – ‘Austrian National Council 2019 General’, 24 January 2024, <https://www.electionguide.org/elections/id/3350/>, accessed 10 October 2025
Kennedy, N., ‘At least 17 killed in floods as a month’s worth of rain pounds central Europe’, CNN, 16 September 2024, <https://edition.cnn.com/2024/09/16/weather/storm-boris-floods-europe-intl/index.html>, accessed 10 October 2025
Murphy, F., ‘Austrian parties scrap election events due to floods’, Reuters, 16 September 2024, <https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/austrian-parties-scrap-election-events-due-floods-2024-09-16/#>, accessed 10 October 2025
ORF.at, ‘Vorläufiges amtliches Endergebnis’ [Provisional official final result], [n.d.], <https://orf.at/wahl/nr24/hochrechnungen>, accessed 10 October 2025
Paternoster, T., ‘“Usually it's a harmless little river”: Austrians struck by flooding reel from ruin left in its wake’, Euronews, 19 September 2024, <https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/09/19/no-heating-and-submerged-homes-austria-reels-from-flooding#:~:text=Austria%20is%20reeling%20from%20floods%20that%20have%20caused%20damage%20to>, accessed 10 October 2025
World Weather Attribution (WWA), ‘Climate change and high exposure increased costs and disruption to lives and livelihoods from flooding associated with exceptionally heavy rainfall in Central Europe’, 25 September 2024, <https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/climate-change-and-high-exposure-increased-costs-and-disruption-to-lives-and-livelihoods-from-flooding-associated-with-exceptionally-heavy-rainfall-in-central-europe/>, accessed 10 October 2025
Severe Storms and Hurricanes
