At least four dead in severe storms in the Maggia Valley and Valais
Published: Sunday, Jun 30th 2024, 18:10
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Severe storms have once again swept across Switzerland. Parts of the cantons of Valais and Ticino were hit hard on Saturday and in the night to Sunday. At least four people lost their lives, three in Ticino and one in the canton of Valais.
A search was also underway in both cantons for one missing person each. The authorities did not rule out further victims on Sunday.
This repetition of catastrophic events is deeply moving, said Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis at a media conference in Locarno TI on Sunday. He expressed the Federal Council's support for the affected population and the authorities. Just over a week ago, storms in the Misox caused enormous damage.
Only accessible from the air
The upper Maggia Valley was hit hard by the storms, Ticino authorities told the media on Sunday. The canton published a video taken by a Rega helicopter of the Maggia flooding and the enormous devastation. Hundreds of people had to be evacuated.
After the storms, the upper part of the Maggia Valley was only accessible by air because the Maggia had torn away a bridge near Cevio. Communications were also severely impaired and the water and electricity supplies were interrupted.
On Sunday morning, the bodies of two women were recovered in Val Bavona near a landslide. A third body was later found in the same area. A fourth missing person was still being searched for in the Lavizzara Valley on Sunday.
Difficult rescue operations
On Sunday, a summer colony of 40 children and 30 adults were evacuated from Mogno in the upper Val Lavizzara. However, 300 people who had gathered for a football tournament in Peccia, also in Val Lavizzara, were still waiting to be transported down to the valley by helicopter in the afternoon.
Geologist Stefano Daverio explained to the media that the heavy rainfall that fell within a few hours in the Cevio-Airolo area led to overflowing rivers and soil erosion. The particular nature of the area had encouraged flash floods and landslides, he explained.
Under the rubble of a hotel
Valais was also badly affected. In Saas-Grund, a man was found lifeless under the rubble in a hotel. According to initial findings, he may have been surprised by the rapidly rising water, as Attorney General Beatrice Pilloud told the media in Grône. A search is still underway for a missing man in the area around Binn in Upper Valais.
The situation on the flooded Rhone and its tributaries is "under control", said Frédéric Favre, State Councillor for Valais. Although the water is receding, the situation will remain delicate for several days. Several hundred people - the official number is not yet known - had to be evacuated in various regions of Valais.
Hundreds of people evacuated
The village of Saas-Grund "paid dearly", as did several other valleys, in particular Goms and Zermatt, said Raphaël Mayoraz, head of the Natural Hazards Office. The roads into the Saas Valley - between Saas-Balen and Saas-Grund and from Saas-Grund to Saas-Almagell - were closed on Sunday.
Other roads in the canton were also impassable. The Simplon axis as well as the Furka and Nufenen passes were closed, as was the A9 between Sierre and Sion. The Lausanne-Brig railroad line between Riddes and Ardon is expected to be closed until Sunday evening. According to the authorities, the storms in Valais caused between 15 and 20 million francs worth of damage to cantonal roads.
Army as reinforcement
The cantons of Valais and Ticino have requested the help of the army. In Valais, it is to help in the Sierre and Chippis region in particular. The help is necessary as all cantonal emergency services and private companies are already on site, wrote the cantonal command and control organization (KFO).
In Ticino, the army is needed to help build a temporary bridge near Cevio in the Maggia Valley, as representatives of the authorities told the media. The army has deployed two Super Puma helicopters for evacuations from cut-off areas.
©Keystone/SDA
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