Ticino again threatened by heavy thunderstorms
Published: Thursday, Jul 11th 2024, 18:00
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The danger of severe thunderstorms continues to keep Switzerland on tenterhooks. The federal government is warning of further storms in the coming days, with the greatest risk in Ticino. Meanwhile, the army is building a temporary bridge in the disaster area in the Maggia Valley.
The Federal Office of Climatology and Meteorology (MeteoSwiss) issued a level 4 warning for Ticino and the municipality of Bregaglia in the canton of Graubünden on Thursday, the second-highest danger level. The federal government is therefore warning of a high risk of severe weather.
The warning is valid until Sunday night. MeteoSwiss not only warned of high lightning activity and heavy rain. There was also a threat of landslides on steep slopes and the sudden occurrence of tidal waves or flooding in streams, it said.
In the region around St. Moritz GR and in the Grisons Safiental, MeteoSwiss also classifies the risk of persistent rain from Friday as considerable.
Evacuation plan is ready
Ryan Pedevilla, head of the military and civil protection department in the canton of Ticino, said at a media conference in the Maggia Valley that they were in regular contact with MeteoSwiss due to the renewed storm warning. An evacuation plan is ready. An air bridge will be set up on Thursday evening for the Bavona Valley, which was hit particularly hard by the storms at the end of June.
When asked by a member of the media, Pedevilla explained that the evacuation plan was a "scaled-down version" of last week's plan. Heavy thunderstorms had also been forecast before last weekend. However, it remained calm in the Maggia Valley.
Pedevilla went on to explain that there were only a few people in the Bavona Valley who could potentially be evacuated. The people who lived at the bottom of the valley in San Carlo were outside the danger zone.
The head of the Ticino Police and Justice Department, Lega politician Norman Gobbi, added that in Switzerland, citizens can decide for themselves whether they want to be evacuated or not. "It's not like in American movies."
Help with heavy equipment
During the last two weekends in June, severe storms first hit the Misox region and then Ticino and Valais just a week later. At least nine people lost their lives. Five people are still missing.
During the storm in the Maggia Valley on the last weekend in June, the bridge over the Maggia near Visletto, a district of the municipality of Cevio TI, was torn away. On Thursday, the army began constructing a support bridge to replace the destroyed bridge. According to the army, the Mabey bridge is 61 meters long and 4.8 meters wide. It has a load-bearing capacity of 40 tons.
Concern about industrial location
Meanwhile, in Valais, the cantonal government wants to use emergency measures to better protect the industrial area near Sierre and Chippis from flooding. As an immediate measure, two Rhone bridges between Sierre and Chippis are to be raised and the riverbed of the Rhone dredged in the affected area.
We are aware that there is no longer any willingness to invest if an industrial site is not in a safe location, said Director of Economic Affairs Christophe Darbellay (center) to the media in Sierre.
The background to this is that the two companies specializing in aluminium products, Constellium and Novelis, have had to temporarily suspend operations at their sites in Sierre and Chippis due to flood damage. According to the companies, it is unclear how long it will take to clean and inspect their machines.
The storms are also likely to have considerable economic consequences in other areas. The Swiss Insurance Association assumes that the insured losses will amount to CHF 160 to 200 million.
©Keystone/SDA
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