Austria has been snowed under this month. The country is used to snow. But this January, there's much more of it than usual. I'm 70, but I don't think I've ever seen so much snowfall（降雪） in 12 days. The areas most affected are Salbachhinterglem, Salfelden and Althalsie. Although the Army and volunteers（志愿者） are helping out, by and large, residents（居民） have to cope（对付） on their own.

  German Hlinge has lived in Althalsie for four decades（十年）, but he's rarely（很少地） seen his village get this much snow before. And time is of the essence（本质）, because temperatures are rising. It may sound paradoxical（矛盾的）, but for homeowners like Hlinge, that's bad news. It means the pressure（压力） on his roof is increasing. When it gets warmer, a cubic meter of snow that weighed（ 称量） 100 kilos now weighs（ 称量） 500. Towering above the village is the Loza Mountain.

  It's an impressive（给人印象深刻的） sight（景象）. But with the high avalanche（雪崩） risk（风险）, does it pose（形成） a danger to Althalsie? That'd be the ultimate（最后的） disaster. Up there is a little valley. That's where the snow will go. I don't believe it'll happen.

  No, you can't think that negatively. It's never happened before. An avalanche barrier（(阻碍通道的)障碍物） up the slope（斜坡） is supposed to protect residents（居民）, but locations（位置） above the barrier（(阻碍通道的)障碍物） are acutely（强烈地） endangered. These include the ski resort（求助）, an important source of income（收入） in Althalsie. It's now closed for safety（安全） reasons. Residents of Althalsie that lie（躺） right at the foot of the Loza are also endangered（危及）.

  So residents have been temporarily（ 暂时地） evacuated（疏散）. Gerhard Leutzel, the mayor（市长）, believes in leading by example. But not everyone's following his lead（领导）. Some of them are staying put. I'm one of those affected and have left my home. Unfortunately, there's no other option.

  The situation is getting worse by the day. So it's a security（安全） measure（分量） that we have to take. Getting around by car isn't easy either. This isn't a one-way road. But all you can do is hope that no one's coming in the opposite direction. Franz Teuschmid is from Bavaria.

  He's a former（在前的） soccer pro who played in Germany's second division（[数] 除法）. Now retired（退下）, he owns a vacation home here, together with his friend, former footballer Manfred Sindel. The first layer（层） is easy, but after that, it gets more difficult. There's the danger of getting hit by falling icicles（垂冰） when you leave the house. That can be dangerous. This is the entrance（入口） to our apartment.

  Unfortunately, it's buried（埋葬） in snow. We have to clear（清除） away the snow first to reach the apartment. You can still see a bit of the chimney. It's that black thing up there. We've got to bring down the snow by tomorrow to here, to the top.