At least Two people have died and one has disappeared in Switzerland due to a landslide in the southern canton of Ticino, due to the heavy storms this weekend that have caused several rivers to overflow their banks, including the Rhône, one of the country’s main rivers.
A situation that has also occurred in the neighboring country, Italywhere intense storms, rain and hail have hit several mountainous areas in the northern regions of Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta this weekend, causing rivers to overflow, flooding, landslides and the evacuation of people.
The landslide occurred in the Maggia valley, where authorities have evacuated around 400 people from several campsites and some homes along the banks of the Alpine river. In addition, roads have been cut off, at least one bridge has been destroyed, and electricity and water supplies have been interrupted. water has become contaminated
Bad weather conditions continue in the area and are hampering the search for the missing person, cantonal police said, as quoted by Swiss national television. RTS.
Police have asked people to limit their movements, while three valleys accessible from the worst affected valley have been cut off.
Further west, in the canton of Valais, the Rhône has overflowed its banks in several areas, forcing evacuate hundreds of people between Briga and Sionthe cantonal capital.
Also The Aigle industrial area has been evacuated as a precautionnear the mouth of the Rhône on Lake Geneva.
The flooding has forced the suspension of rail transport in parts of Valais, as well as traffic on the A9 motorway, in the same area where evacuations have been ordered.
Authorities have recommended avoiding all non-urgent travel in the lower part of the valley, or approaching the banks of the river, which in its middle course forms Lake Geneva, the largest in Western Europe, and then passes through large cities such as Geneva in Switzerland or Lyon, Avignon and Arles in France.
Floods in Italy
A similar situation is taking place in Italy, where storms, rain and hail have hit several mountainous areas in the regions of the Piedmont and the Aosta Valleyin the north, which has caused River overflows, floods, landslides or evacuations of people in an emergency situation.
According to local press, rescue teams evacuated dozens of people trapped in a mountain shelter by helicopter. Macugnana (Piedmont), where flooding caused by heavy rain caused two streams in the area to overflow. Also, almost a hundred people were evacuated last night from two towns in the area where the water overflowed and flooded the streets of residential areas.
The damage in several mountainous areas of Piedmont caused the regional president, Alberto Cirio, to request the declaration of a state of emergency.
Another 200 people were also evacuated this Sunday by helicopter in the Cogne Valley (Aosta Valley) after the only road in the area was damaged by heavy flooding on Saturday. Most of those evacuated were residents and tourists.
According to local media, firefighters have had to carry out around 80 rescues in the last few hours, both due to landslides and other incidents, following the damage in the mountainous area of northern Italy. In turn, the top floor of a house in the region was completely destroyed by the strong gusts of wind.
This Saturday, in the town of Montanaro (Piedmont), emergency crews had to intervene to rescue a family in a car, trapped after a nearby stream overflowed its banks.
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