Flood-hit Austria to ramp up disaster fund to 1 billion euros

By Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich and Marleen Kaesebier

VIENNA (Reuters) -Austria on Wednesday announced a package of measures in response to severe flooding across the country, including a tripling of the federal disaster fund and tax postponements for affected companies.

Austrian political parties also suspended campaign appearances for parliamentary elections scheduled for Sept. 29, with events and TV debates put back until the end of the week.

"The last few days have been enormously challenging for many regions in Austria and our neighbouring countries and have caused great suffering and unimaginable destruction," Chancellor Karl Nehammer said in a statement.

The disaster fund will more than triple to 1 billion euros ($1.11 billion), he said.

Lower Austria, which was particularly hard hit, received its first aid on Tuesday, with the government providing 45 million euros from the disaster fund.

The package of measures comes as Austria and other countries in central Europe have been hit by the region's worst floods in at least two decades. Five people have been killed in Austria alone.

The fund provides financing for preventative measures and repairs to damages from disasters.

Other measures announced on Wednesday are interest-free loans of up to 100 million euros for companies impacted and the option of short-time work for their workers.

The Austrian government also said that in the coming years around one billion euros will be invested in the expansion of flood protection to minimise future flood damage.

($1 = 0.8990 euros)

(Reporting by Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich; Writing by Marleen Kaesebier; editing by Matthias Williams, Rachel More and Angus MacSwan)