Landslide fears rise for Swiss village
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Landslide fears rise for Swiss village
The landslide threat in the evacuated Swiss village of Brienz has worsened considerably following rainfall at the beginning of May and over the Whitsun weekend.
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Phase red is in force, meaning evacuees can no longer enter the village regularly during the day.
+ Why do Swiss mountains collapse? It’s complicated
In recent weeks, the people of Brienz have been able to return to their homes during the day, but not at night. This is over for the time being.
The danger level in the mountain village has been raised again from orange to red, the valley municipality of Albula/Alvra, to which Brienz belongs, announced.
In particular, part of the crumbling mountain in the slab area has accelerated. There are 600,000 cubic metres of rock in motion – the volume of 600 detached houses. However, two other parts of the mountain are also unstable.
+ One in six Swiss homes exposed to natural hazards
“In the worst-case scenario, up to 2.2 million cubic metres of rock mass could tumble down to the village and further towards Albula, causing serious damage,” the press release stated.
Computer simulations show that the entire village could be buried.
More
Swiss village of Brienz closed due to landslide risk
Translated from German by DeepL/mga
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