1 of 1 Climate change increases the risk of natural disasters — Photo: ARND WIEGMANN / AFP Climate change increases the risk of natural disasters — Photo: ARND WIEGMANN / AFP
The small village of Brienz in Switzerland narrowly escaped being completely off the map on Thursday (15 June). A massive landslide and stones missed Brienz “by a hair’s breadth”, according to local authorities.
Local authorities have been observing for weeks that the disaster is imminent. For this reason, the slightly more than 80 residents of the village had to leave their homes on May 12th. The civil defense carried out an inspection to ensure compliance with the measure.
Just before midnight on Thursday, more than a month after the full evacuation, much of the mountain collapsed, throwing 1.5 million tons of rock downhill.
Local authorities inspected the damage early Friday morning and were able to breathe a sigh of relief.
“There is no evidence of damage as the rock masses come to a standstill just outside the village,” it said in a statement.
A meterhigh wall of earth and rock stopped right in front of the school.
According to Stefan Schneider, geologist and head of the early warning service in the canton of Graubünden, where Brienz is located, between 1.5 and 1.9 million cubic meters of rock came loose.
He said the rocks knocked down trees “like matches” and destroyed a small hut in a field above the village.
Monitoring follows
Now, however, there is no longer any danger that a large rock fall could destroy the village. However, Brienz residents who are in temporary accommodation are still not allowed to return home.
“The safety of the village is not guaranteed,” said Andreas Huwiler, geologist for the canton of Graubünden.
“We need to monitor the movement of the collapsed rock mass over the coming days. It could still change if it rains, for example,” he explained, adding that there was a “very, very good chance” that all residents would be able to return to their homes. .
other cases
It’s not the first time a landslide and rocks have threatened a village in the Swiss Alps. In 2017, a disaster of this type forced the evacuation of 200 residents of the village of Bondo in the same region. At that time, 3 million cubic meters fell down the slope and caused damage of more than 40 million euros in the village.
The worst such disaster in the country occurred in 1806, when a landslide of 40 million cubic meters of land buried 457 people and hundreds of cattle.
Geologists consider between 6 and 8% of Swiss territory to be unstable. However, the country monitors risk areas and organizes evacuations in good time to avoid tragedies.
According to Swiss authorities, climate change is increasing the risk of natural disasters in the country, including increased erosion due to rising temperatures.