Crisis in Valais: Village brings glacier abort in danger!

Crisis in Valais: Village brings glacier abort in danger!

After the devastating bumps in glacier in Swiss Valais, the situation remains tense, but the authorities report the first positive developments. The population is still asked to strictly follow the instructions of the responsible authorities. According to Matthias Ebener, head of information at the regional leadership in the Lötschental, rock broken down on the small nesthorn at the gates of Blattens can be seen. The glacier area remains unchanged for the time being, but the danger situation remains serious.

In the disaster area, a reservoir behind a rubble cone is observed, the water level of which temporarily rise up to three meters per hour. The Lonza river is blocked by rock outlets, ice and rubble, which also complicated the situation. Due to the unstable soil conditions, disaster helpers and members of the army cannot intervene with heavy machines. Another rock fall could threaten on both sides of the valley, since hundreds of cubic meters of rock could crash on the small fog horn.

rescue measures and monitoring

Civil protection has set up several pavilions along the slope opposite the birch glacier to protect the population. The hiking trails in the affected zone are closed, while the area is continuously monitored on movements. Numerous measuring devices were installed to support surveillance. At the same time, the Lonza fills up the precautionary emptied reservoir in Ferden, but due to a high sediment concentration in the water cannot be turbined. On Friday evening, the basic exposure of the reservoir was partially opened to enable a controlled water drainage.

The reserve function of the reservoir in the event of a degenerate of a mur is retained. Although the situation has stabilized in some places, the local authorities take care of a possible worst-case scenario, in which more water and rubble than expected to overwhelm the reservoir. Individual houses along the river bed were prevented.

Current developments in the disaster area

The situation in the Lötschental has relaxed. The authorities of the Canton of Valais have announced that no further evacuations of neighboring places are planned. Jonas Jeitziner from the regional management staff described this as "good news". A passage for the lake behind the rubble cone was found, which has dropped the risk of an uncontrolled breakthrough of the amount of water. Nevertheless, there is the possibility of further rock breakdowns and scree avalanches above the disaster region.

The disaster area is at around 1,500 meters, where the village of Blatten is almost completely buried. Around 300 inhabitants had to be evacuated, and a 64-year-old man is missing in the catastrophic environment. Valais Councilor Beat Rieder called for more federal funds to protect against natural hazards in the Alps, while Mayor Valentin Werlen called the day as a "raven black" for blades and warned of falling stones.

The situation remains critical, even if there are bright spots. Civil and disaster protection work tirelessly on the assessment of the dangers and the implementation of organizational measures to ensure the safety of the population and prevent further damage.

For more information we refer to Berliner Zeitung and ZDF today .