Most evacuees of Glarus landslide village get all-clear to go home
Some 20 residents from Schwanden in canton Glarus were allowed to return home as of Saturday morning, after being evacuated shortly before Christmas. Several other residents are still waiting for the green light.
The situation in the landslide area has meanwhile stabilised, the municipality of Glarus Süd wrote on Friday evening. On December 22 and 23, up to 2,000 cubic metres of mud threatened to disrupt water and electricity supplies. Around 25 people had to be evacuated.
In the meantime, new access routes have been created for two affected apartment blocks, the municipality wrote.
+ An overview of the deadliest landslides throughout Swiss history
The remaining buildings in the affected area are still out of bounds. In addition, all basement rooms remain closed. The municipality has informed all affected residents by telephone about the possibility of returning home while also assuring them that any hotel costs would be covered until January 4.
There is still a risk of 60,000 cubic metres of material sliding down – twice as much as came down at the end of August, destroying and damaging several houses.
The neighbourhood currently affected is just a few metres from the so-called red zone, where most damage was recorded in August. In mid-December, it became clear that the 40 people affected in this zone would never be able to return to their homes, which are to be demolished.
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