Flash flooding caused severe damage and prompted numerous high-water rescues in Alpine regions of Germany, Austria, and northern Italy in mid-August.

Germany
In Germany, heavy rain on 16 August triggered floods in Grainau in Garmisch-Partenkirchen district, southern Bavaria. Police reported 12 hikers were swept away or stranded after the flooding. Hammersbach stream swept through the narrow Höllental gorge situated at the foot of the Zugspitze, the highest peak of the Wetterstein Mountains.

A team of around 150 rescue workers was deployed to the area. As of 16 August, eight people had been rescued, while the body of one person had been found and one was still missing.

Austria
Heavy rain in parts of Salzburg State in Austria from 16 August caused mudslides and flash floods in the Pongau and Pinzgau regions. The small city of Sankt Johann im Pongau recorded 36 mm of rain in one hour and 51 mm in two hours on 16 August 2021.

Emergency teams including 1,400 firefighters and around 70 high water rescue specialists carried out around 500 interventions. Salzburg Water Rescue Service said it was lucky nobody was killed considering the severity of the situation.

In Dienten municipality in Pinzgau, three people were rescued by firefighters after a bus and a car were both swept into a stream by a mudslide. All three people suffered injuries, one of them was seriously injured. Approximately 90 people were rescued in areas around Sankt Johann im Pongau.

The Krimml train station, track, and a train of the Pinzgauer local railway in Wald im Pinzgau were completely buried in rocks and flood debris. Areas of the town were also badly affected, and residents had to evacuate with the assistance of the Federal Army.

Parts of the states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Tyrol also reported storm damage.

Italy
The severe weather also caused damage in parts of South Tyrol Province of northern Italy on 16 August. The communes of Ahrntal and Pflersch were the worst affected. Firefighters responded to 200 incidents, including flooded buildings and roads. Thirty people were evacuated after floods and mudslides in areas of Pflersch.

Sankt Johann im Ahrntal recorded 43mm of rain in one hour on 16 August 2021.