Road and rail traffic in French speaking Switzerland disrupted by bad weather RTS.ch

The heavy rains of the last few hours have brought the levels of many rivers in western Switzerland to critical levels and led to the closure of bridges and roads, especially in Geneva, where the Arve recorded its highest flow ever recorded. In Chablais, Valais, in Champéry, landslides caused flowing lava.

In Geneva, the situation is gradually returning to normal after the 100-year flood of the Arve led to the closure of several bridges over the river on Wednesday morning, Geneva police said late Wednesday afternoon.

All bridges are close to reopening, except for the Bâtie pedestrian bridge, which is still closed to pedestrians, the spokesman said in a press release. The latter added that authorities continue to “closely monitor the situation.”

Flooding of the Arve in Geneva. [Mohamed Musadak – RTS]The peak of the Arve flood occurred on Wednesday morning. The level of the 100-year flood of 2015 (923 m3/second) was exceeded around 6 a.m. “We have exceeded 1,000 m3 per second,” the highest value ever measured, Lieutenant Nicolas Millot, spokesman for the Fire and Rescue Service (SIS), said this morning. In neighboring France, the flow of the Arve even rose to 1200 m3 per second at times.

A situation that led to the closure of eight of the five bridges that span the river on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday. These were the bridges of Vessy, Val d’Arve, Fontenette, Carouge and Acacias. The Sierne, Wilsdorf and St-George bridges remained open.

At around 4 p.m. the flow of the Arve in Geneva fell to 668 m3 per second, Geneva police said.

>> Read also: Flooding of the Arve in Geneva, all records in numbers

Complicated journey

Bridge closures led to significant traffic delays on Wednesday morning. Public transport was also affected, as trams could no longer travel from one bank to the other in either Acacias or Carouge. However, around midday, Geneva Public Transport (TPG) announced the gradual restoration of its network.

Faced with an extraordinary situation and no other solution, many people decided to walk to work on Wednesday morning and collect information from left to right. Patience was required for drivers as there were still heavy traffic jams near bridges that were open to traffic.

Sand dikes

As of Wednesday morning, no significant damage had been reported. About a hundred firefighters were deployed to respond in the event of the river overflowing. At certain critical points, where the pine tree was just a few centimeters from the sidewalk, sand dikes and tubes as well as boards were installed along the railings. Flood protection dams were also installed at the entrance to the cellars.

Historic Arve flood in Geneva / News in the video / 39 seconds / yesterday at 10:07

It was the civil engineers of the city and canton of Geneva who decided to close the bridges over the Arve. Their great fear was that the current and the logs carried away by the raging river would damage the decks of the works.

>> Read also: Swollen rivers, landslides and roads closed due to heavy rains

Shortening of the CFF Lausanne-Payerne line

The canton of Vaud was also affected by the heavy rain. Rail traffic between Ecublens-Rue (FR) and Moudon (VD) on the Lausanne-Payerne route was suspended until midday due to bad weather, the CFF announced early on Wednesday morning. Travelers were asked to use replacement buses.

In Aigle (VD), the motorway exits were closed in both directions early in the morning due to flooding, Vaud police said. Motorists were asked to take the St-Triphon exit.

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>> Watch the interview with Stéphanie André, head of the WATER department of the canton of Vaud, in the forum: Do the weather protection measures in Switzerland need to be checked? Interview with Stéphanie André / Forum / 4 min. / yesterday at 6:00 p.m

Floods in Freiburg

In the city of Freiburg, the Saane has reached a critical level. Several parked vehicles in the area were damaged, the cantonal police said on Wednesday, taking stock of the storms that had prevailed since the previous day. The flooding, caused by the release of water from the various dams upstream, required the intervention of firefighters from the Freiburg departure base.

It quickly became clear that the amount of water was constantly increasing and it was not possible to control the flow of the Saane. In the parking lot of the old ice rink, firefighters managed to move several vehicles before they had to retreat, the release said.

The Freiburg STEP, which lies below the lower city, was also subject to close monitoring to ensure its proper operation.

Outside the canton capital, problems arose in Gruyère. On Tuesday evening, the Friborg cantonal police announced the evacuation of houses in Charmey (FR) because the Jogne river had overflowed its banks. The cantonal road between Charmey and Im Fang (FR) was also closed before reopening at 7 a.m.

In the Glâne district, a spectacular landslide shook an area of ​​the village of Rue. Several parked vehicles were damaged in the incident. Fortunately, no injuries were reported as cars parked behind a creperie were unoccupied, local authorities said. Heavy rains required more than 250 police interventions in the canton on Tuesday.

>> Update on the situation in the canton of Friborg at 12:45 p.m.: There is significant storms in French-speaking Switzerland. In Freiburg, Sarine got out of bed / 12:45 p.m. / 1 ​​minute. / yesterday at 12:45

Banned on the banks of the Areuse

In the canton of Neuchâtel, access to the banks of the Areuse, the river with a very high flow, has been prohibited since Tuesday between Fleurier and Travers. Residents are asked to respect the signs. Interventions took place in the village of Travers on Wednesday morning, the municipality of Val-de-Travers said.

The cycle path between Crêt de l’Anneau in Travers and Rosières in Noiraigue is closed until further notice, the press release says.

The level of Lake Biel and its inflows and outflows has risen significantly. The level is currently around 23 centimeters below flood level. However, it will increase further in the next few hours. To prevent flooding, authorities are draining as much water as possible from the harbor embankment.

On the Neuchâtel shore of Lake Biel, the regional control center (OCRg) ordered the use of the new mobile dike of the coastal fire protection region (RDIL) to protect the facilities of the Landeron captain’s office (NE). The device is 400 meters long.

In German-speaking Switzerland, the Rhine reached record levels and led to the interruption of river shipping between Rheinfelden (AG) and the French community of Kembs via Basel. In this canton, the police have closed off areas along the river bank. In Bern, too, the rivers are full to the brim and have overflowed their banks in some places. The risk of flooding is particularly high for the Aare from the mouth of the Saane to Lake Biel.

Further rainfall also fell overnight in central Switzerland. Due to a landslide, rail traffic between Biberbrugg (SZ) and Einsiedeln (SZ) had to be closed. Drive replacement buses.

calm in sight

From Wednesday to Thursday afternoon, a high pressure area will ensure temporarily calm and generally dry weather, reports MeteoSwiss. Then a stormy low pressure area is likely to hit Switzerland and strong winds are expected.

>> Also take a look at the bad weather report on Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m.: Emergency services are mobilizing across Switzerland to limit flooding / 7:30 p.m. / 1 ​​min. / Tuesday at 7:30 p.m

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