Switzerland issues more flood warnings after heavy thunderstorms
According to SRF, 45.8 mm of rain fell in the capital Bern over a 12-hour period.
Keystone / Salvatore Di Nolfi
Switzerland has announced more flood warnings after high winds and heavy rain battered the country between Monday night and Tuesday morning. The storms caused sections of the A2 motorway to temporarily close on Tuesday.
Rain, hail and winds of up to 135 kilometres per hour were recorded on Monday evening, Swiss public broadcaster SRF said on Tuesday.
From the Jura mountains in western Switzerland, the thunderstorms swept eastwards across the country, hitting Zurich especially hard. At the time of writing, thunderstorms were moving over canton Ticino in the south.
Since Monday evening, over 1,000 telephone calls were made to Zurich’s emergency services as storms and heavy hail caused considerable damage in the city, the cantonal police said.
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When the ‘flood of the century’ crippled Switzerland
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Severe flooding in May 1999 killed one person and injured several others. Damage to property and infrastructure was severe, racking up thousands of insurance claims worth millions of Swiss francs. Especially hard hit were communities near Bern and in central and eastern Switzerland. In some cases, the entire ground floors of homes and businesses were…
The storms also caused delays and shutdowns to Zurich’s public transport system, with fallen trees and flooded streets halting tram and bus lines in the city, Reuters reported.
In Zurich, fallen trees and flooded streets halted public transport and blocked roads.
Keystone / Ennio Leanza
In central Switzerland, canton Uri temporarily closed sections of the A2 motorway that runs through the heart of the country, from Germany in the north to its southern border with Italy.
According to SRF, 45.8 mm of rain fell in the capital Bern over a 12-hour period. But at the village of Waldegg just outside Zurich, 31.1 mm of rain were recorded in ten minutes, almost beating the record of 41.1 mm that fell in ten minutes on Lausanne in August 2018.
Flooding also affected Alpnach-Stad in Kanton Obwalden, central Switzerland.
Keystone / Urs Flueeler
In the town of Thun, in the Bernese Oberland, wind speeds of up to 64km/h were registered by SRF, and fire services were called out more than any other time in the last 25 years, the NZZ said.
Following the storms, the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) issued “level four” (high danger) flood warnings for lakes Zurich, Thun and Lucerne (on a scale of 1-5). SRF predicts that further rain, flooding, especially around lakes and rivers, and landslides are likely in the next few days.
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When the ‘flood of the century’ crippled Switzerland
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Severe flooding in May 1999 killed one person and injured several others. Damage to property and infrastructure was severe, racking up thousands of insurance claims worth millions of Swiss francs. Especially hard hit were communities near Bern and in central and eastern Switzerland. In some cases, the entire ground floors of homes and businesses were…
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Heavy rain over the past few days has caused damage to homes and infrastructure in cantons Solothurn, Aargau and Basel-Country, with numerous cellars and roads flooded. The police and fire services were called out 400 times in Aargau alone, and in several areas civil protection volunteers were out in force. In the town of Stetten…
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The Federal Office for the Environment have completed a nationwide, interactive map tool detailing areas with potential flood danger.
Parts of Switzerland on flood alert, more rain ahead
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The Swiss capital Bern and some Alpine region lake areas are still on alert for possible flooding. More rain is expected next week.
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.