Mühlebach causes great destruction in Brienz BE
Published: Tuesday, Aug 13th 2024, 11:50
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After heavy storms on Monday evening, 70 people were evacuated from their homes in Brienz BE. Infrastructure in the village was severely damaged. Two people were injured. Planes had to be diverted at Zurich Airport due to the storm. And rail and road traffic to Grindelwald was severely disrupted.
The Mühlebach in Brienz caused extensive damage after a thunderstorm. Buildings and infrastructure such as the railroad line were severely affected. The Aenderdorf region is still closed. 70 people are still being evacuated, as Reto Filli, head of the regional management organization (RFO), told the media in Brienz. Most of them have been accommodated in private accommodation. It remains to be seen when the people will be able to return.
Fortunately, no one is missing, but there were two minor to moderate injuries. The first task now is to begin clearing the main road.
Experts inspect buildings
Over the next few hours, experts will inspect the damaged buildings. As soon as possible, they want to give those affected the opportunity to get their personal belongings out of their homes. But the situation must be safe for this.
Geologists were also out and about in the area on Tuesday morning. They did not find any water accumulations, Zumbrunn explained. This is a good thing, as the water can run off. For safety reasons, the RFO recommended boiling the drinking water.
Rail and road traffic to Grindelwald affected
The train connection between Grindelwald and Interlaken is interrupted until midnight on Tuesday, according to the rail traffic information service. In addition, the road to Interlaken was impassable on Tuesday due to a mudslide.
As Grindelwald's mayor Beat Bucher told Keystone-SDA, a tree fell onto a train on Monday evening, but there were no injuries. In total, around 260 people were affected by the restrictions on rail and road traffic. Around 180 people had to spend the night in the sports center hall, around 35 people in the civil defense facility and around 45 people in the terminal. 45 people had to spend the night, Bucher said.
It is possible to continue to Interlaken by public transport via Männlichen or Kleine Scheidegg, Wengen, Lauterbrunnen, but this would take longer. It is currently not possible to drive on the road. "After a control flight, we have now been able to start clearing the cantonal road," says Bucher. It is expected that there will be news at the beginning of the afternoon so that individual tourist traffic out of the valley can be organized.
Many damage reports in Aargau
The canton of Aargau also had to deal with the consequences of a heavy thunderstorm on Monday evening. 30 fire departments were deployed at 150 damage sites, as reported by the Aargau cantonal police. No one was injured.
According to the Touring Club Switzerland, the road between Brugg and Hausen was buried by a landslide. The road between Veltheim and Wildegg was closed due to flooding, the club added. It was not clear in the evening when the two main roads would be open to traffic again.
Rockfall on Axenstrasse
There were also heavy thunderstorms in the canton of Uri. A rockslide fell on the Axenstrasse on Lake Uri between Flüelen and Sisikon UR on Monday evening. The Axenstrasse will therefore remain closed until Tuesday lunchtime. The Axenstrasse is an important feeder route to the A2 highway and thus towards the Gotthard road tunnel.
In the cantons of Zug and Lucerne, the storm caused fallen trees and capsized boats, among other things. The police received a total of 20 reports in Zug and 50 in Lucerne.
70,000 flashes - 20 flights diverted
The federal government registered over 70,000 flashes of lightning in the Swiss sky during the violent thunderstorms. One particularly spectacular flash of lightning rose from the transmission tower on the Uetliberg in Zurich, as reported by MeteoSwiss on Platform X early on Tuesday morning.
Zurich Airport diverted 20 flights due to the heavy thunderstorms on Monday evening. The grounding was for safety reasons. Airport employees are not allowed to be outdoors during heavy thunderstorms.
©Keystone/SDA
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