Latest news with #Ferden
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
A river dammed by a huge Swiss landslide is flowing again. That's a relief to authorities
GENEVA (AP) — A small Alpine river dammed by a landslide that largely buried the Swiss village of Blatten is now flowing through the debris, and the level of a newly created lake that raised worries about potential new destruction has fallen, authorities said Saturday. A huge mass of rock, ice and mud from the Birch glacier thundered into the Lötschental valley in southern Switzerland on Wednesday, destroying much of the village. Buildings that weren't buried were submerged in a lake created by the small Lonza River, whose course was dammed by the mass of material. Authorities worried that water pooling above the mass of rock and ice could lead to risks of its own. Still, the regional government in Valais canton (state) said that the Lonza has been flowing through the full length of the debris since Friday. Geologist and regional official Raphaël Mayoraz said Saturday that the level of the lake has since gone down about 1 meter (3.3 feet). 'The speed at which this lake is emptying comes from the river eroding the deposit,' he said at a news conference. 'This erosion is relatively slow, but that's a good thing. If it is too fast, then there is instability in this channel, and that could lead to small slides of debris.' 'The Lonza appears to have found its way, but it too early to be able to give an all-clear,' said Matthias Bellwald, Blatten's mayor. The outlet of a dam downstream at Ferden, which is normally used to generate electricity, was opened partially on Friday evening to allow water to flow further down the valley and regulate the volume of water behind the dam. Authorities are still leaving open the possibility of evacuations further downstream if required, though the risk to other villages appears very low. Days before most of the glacier collapsed, authorities had ordered the evacuation of about 300 people, as well as livestock, from Blatten. Switzerland's president said on Friday that the government was looking for ways to help the evacuees.
Associated Press
3 days ago
- Climate
- Associated Press
A river dammed by a huge Swiss landslide is flowing again. That's a relief to authorities
GENEVA (AP) — A small Alpine river dammed by a landslide that largely buried the Swiss village of Blatten is now flowing through the debris, and the level of a newly created lake that raised worries about potential new destruction has fallen, authorities said Saturday. A huge mass of rock, ice and mud from the Birch glacier thundered into the Lötschental valley in southern Switzerland on Wednesday, destroying much of the village. Buildings that weren't buried were submerged in a lake created by the small Lonza River, whose course was dammed by the mass of material. Authorities worried that water pooling above the mass of rock and ice could lead to risks of its own. Still, the regional government in Valais canton (state) said that the Lonza has been flowing through the full length of the debris since Friday. Geologist and regional official Raphaël Mayoraz said Saturday that the level of the lake has since gone down about 1 meter (3.3 feet). 'The speed at which this lake is emptying comes from the river eroding the deposit,' he said at a news conference. 'This erosion is relatively slow, but that's a good thing. If it is too fast, then there is instability in this channel, and that could lead to small slides of debris.' 'The Lonza appears to have found its way, but it too early to be able to give an all-clear,' said Matthias Bellwald, Blatten's mayor. The outlet of a dam downstream at Ferden, which is normally used to generate electricity, was opened partially on Friday evening to allow water to flow further down the valley and regulate the volume of water behind the dam. Authorities are still leaving open the possibility of evacuations further downstream if required, though the risk to other villages appears very low. Days before most of the glacier collapsed, authorities had ordered the evacuation of about 300 people, as well as livestock, from Blatten. Switzerland's president said on Friday that the government was looking for ways to help the evacuees.
News.com.au
5 days ago
- Climate
- News.com.au
Rock and ice prevent rescue work after Swiss glacier collapse
Swiss authorities said Thursday that rock and ice piles from a collapsed glacier that destroyed a village were preventing emergency services from working, but that they were cautiously optimistic no more homes were at risk. The Birch glacier in Switzerland's southern Valais (Wallis) region collapsed on Wednesday, sending a mass of rock, ice and scree hurtling down the mountain slope and into the valley below. The barrage largely destroyed the most of Blatten, which had been home to 300 people and was evacuated last week due to the impending danger. One 64-year-old man, believed to have been in the danger zone at the time, remains missing. A police spokesman said the difficult conditions had forced the search to be called off Thursday. The unstable mountain face and thousands of tonnes of rocky debris also made it impossible for emergency workers to intervene to stabilise the zone and contain the risk of flooding in the valley below, officials told a news conference. The huge pile of glacier debris, stretching some two kilometres (1.25 miles), has blocked the river Lonza. After initially warning of a potentially devastating flood from water trapped above the debris, authorities said expert analysis indicated the risk had eased. "The information we've received from geologists and other specialists tends to indicate such an event is unlikely," Valais security chief Stephane Ganzer told a news conference. An artificial dam in the village of Ferden, just below, has been emptied and should be able to contain any downward rush of water if it happens, said Ganzer. However, he added: "It's unlikely, but we don't really like that word 'unlikely' here since yesterday, because we know that unlikely can become likely." - 'Terrible catastrophe' - Authorities are studying evacuation plans and have warned residents who could be affected, Ganzer said. "We have one person missing, we don't want anyone else missing or deceased from this terrible catastrophe," he said. As a precaution, 16 more people were evacuated Wednesday from two villages located downstream from the disaster area in the Loetschental valley, known for scenic views and home to around 1,500 people living in villages. Their views of the valley have definitively changed now. Where the Birch glacier used to sit, there is now a gaping hole in the mountainside. What is left of the village of Blatten is being submerged beneath the accumulating water of the Lonza river. A sunny and warm weather forecast means "lots of snow" will melt in the coming days, meaning "we're still facing colossal water levels" in the artificial lake that has formed, Ganzer said. - Seismic event - YouTube footage of the collapse showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside, into the valley and partially up the mountain slope on the other side. The force was such that Swiss monitoring stations registered the phenomenon as a seismic event. According to officials, three million cubic metres of rock fell suddenly onto the glacier, pushing it down into the valley. Warming temperatures have shrunk the Alps' glaciers and made them more unstable. Swiss glaciers, severely impacted by climate change, melted as much in 2022 and 2023 as between 1960 and 1990, losing in total about 10 percent of their volume. In August 2017, approximately 3.1 million cubic meters of rock fell from Pizzo Cengalo, a mountain in the Alps in Graubuenden canton, near the Italian border, killing eight hikers. Some 500,000 cubic metres of rock and mud flowed as far as the town of Bondo, causing significant damage there but no casualties.
