Infrastructure in Binn VS severely damaged by storms
Published: Friday, Jul 5th 2024, 11:10
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In Valais, the municipality of Binn has drawn up a preliminary damage assessment. The power supply and the hydropower infrastructure of Gommerkraftwerke AG were severely damaged by the Leng Valley water, which rose due to the extremely heavy rainfall last weekend. The affected hydropower plants were completely shut down for several months.
A 52-year-old power plant employee is still missing, as the municipality announced on Friday.
The power supply to the hamlet of Heiligkreuz is still interrupted due to the massive damage. The residents of the hamlet, which belongs to the municipalities of Binn and Grengiols, were evacuated on Sunday.
The cantonal and private road infrastructure up to the hamlet of Heiligkreuz was also severely damaged, it was reported. However, the restoration work will take weeks. As a first step, the existing sections have been secured and buried areas have been cleared.
Gommerkraftwerke AG reports massive damage to its buildings. The area above the Heiligkreuz power station was completely devastated by the flood. The terrain is still dangerous, as the Lengtal water has burst its banks in several places.
The affected hydropower plants will reportedly remain completely shut down for several months. The penstock of the Heiligkreuz power plant was exposed in some places, while the penstock of the Saflisch power plant was swept away by the floods.
The work to secure the area is expected to take several months, the statement added. The extent of the damage has not yet been determined.
Army in action
Meanwhile, the army has also decided to deploy soldiers and machinery in Val d'Anniviers, which was hit by the storm. Around a dozen members of the army are to clear the road between St-Jean and Mission in particular, which was covered with almost one and a half meters of rubble during the storms, as Jean-Claude Gagliardi, the army's head of operations, told Keystone-SDA.
In Valais, around 60 members of the army are still on duty in the municipality of Goms, and around 30 in the village of Saas-Grund, which has been severely affected and has suffered one death. In Sierre, the work to pump out the water has been completed, said Gagliardi. The 50 or so soldiers have returned to their base in Bremgarten AG.
Fatalities identified in Ticino
Meanwhile, another fatality has been identified in Ticino, as the cantonal police announced on Friday. It is a 67-year-old Swiss man from Locarno. The man was found dead in the bed of the Maggia river in Riveo on Tuesday. Four people are still missing in Ticino.
After two weekends of severe weather in Switzerland, there are at least eight victims in total.
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