Storm Benjamin leaves trail of damage across Switzerland

The storm knocked over an electricity pylon supporting a high-voltage power line in Bière (canton Vaud). Keystone / Martial Trezzini

Storm Benjamin caused strong winds, heavy rain, travel disruptions and damage as it crossed Switzerland on Thursday. In several locations, gusts exceeded 100 km/h.

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Strong winds over 100 km/h were recorded in western Switzerland and the central Plateau region, including 128 km/h in Le Bouveret (canton Valais), 125 km/h in Bière (canton Vaud) and 110 km/h in Nyon (canton Vaud), according to MeteoSwiss. They were even stronger in the mountains: 148 km/h at Mount Pilatus (canton Obwalden), 145 km/h at Les Diablerets (canton Vaud), 140 km/h at La Dôle (canton Vaud), 134 km/h at Moléson (canton Fribourg) and 131 km/h at Chasseral (canton Bern).

The Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology had warned that “strong to stormy” winds would sweep across the country. It had issued a level three warning (out of five) for north of the Alps.

Many trees were knocked down by the winds and roads were cut. An electricity pylon supporting a high-voltage power line fell in Bière (canton Vaud) shortly before 11am. The cable was not broken, however. A tree also fell on a bus carrying around 15 people in Givrins (canton Vaud), but no one was injured, according to the newspaper La Côte.

The Vaud police reported 80 incidents. The fire brigade received 750 calls and responded to 115 incidents, most of which involved falling trees, branches and road signs.

In canton Neuchâtel, the Gorges du Seyon, the main road linking Neuchâtel to La Chaux-de-Fonds in the uphill direction, was closed after a tree fell before reopening at around 11am.

Also in canton Fribourg, trees and branches fell onto roads. Roofing materials were also blown off. One person was slightly injured in Bulle when an aluminium bar came loose from the structure of a building.

The Geneva Fire and Rescue Service (SIS) responded to 78 incidents between 7am and 11am. They were mainly due to falling trees. The city of Geneva closed all local parks due to the strong gusts.

Less violent in German-speaking Switzerland

Storm Benjamin also caused significant damage in canton Bern. Between 7am and 3pm, the cantonal police received 82 reports, half of which came from the Bernese Oberland.

But in general the storm was less violent in German-speaking Switzerland than in French-speaking regions. In canton St Gallen, the trailer of a delivery vehicle overturned on the A13 road near Rüthi due to strong gusts. Both lanes were closed to traffic for around two hours.

In canton Basel City, the emergency services and police received around 25 storm-related calls.

On Lake Geneva, the CGN boat company cancelled all scheduled services for the day.

Swiss Federal Railways announced various traffic restrictions throughout Thursday. The lines between Payerne (Vaud) and Chiètres (Fribourg), between Vevey and Aigle (Vaud) and between La Sarraz (Vaud) and Vallorbe (Vaud) were all affected by traffic disruptions. This was also the case for the line between La Chaux-de-Fonds and Besançon  in France.

MeteoSwiss had issued a level 3 alert, i.e. a marked danger, for Thursday with the arrival of Benjamin, a storm of unusual intensity this early in the season. Almost all of French-speaking Switzerland and the Plateau region were affected. The Pre-Alps region had a level two warning, while Ticino and Graubünden were at level one.

The violent winds were accompanied by cooler temperatures, and the rain-snow limit dropped during the day from 2,300 metres to 1,300 metres, then to 1,100 metres on Thursday night.

Translated from French by DeepL/sb

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