“A Valley Cries” – Glacier root in Switzerland: Now Flood Wave is threatening!

A meter -high dam of rubble, rock and ice currently prevents the drainage of the Lonza River and the Village Stream Gisentella. Immneale water masses have already been stored. When the water breaks through, there is a tidal wave below in the valley. As a precaution, different houses have already been erased in two other communities. 16 people were hit.

A first drone video shows the size of the
Destruction in the Bergdorf Blatten in the Swiss Lötschental:

On drone photos, the village of Blatten, is almost completely buried under a meter -high layer of rubbers can hardly be seen. “A valley shouts,” wrote the online platform of the local media house Pomona.

Worry about a break
“The worst would be that water builds up to the crown of the mountaineering bram,” said Geologist Flavio Anselmetti from the University of Bern to the Swiss radio station SRF. The river could then cut into the rock mixture, become unstable and break: “Then very strong tidal waves or disaster from this outbreak of the lake can threaten the congregations in the lower valley.” The army has already been mobilized. The location is rated every hour with drones and helicopter superflat.

Bergdorf destroyed: residents under shock
The approximately 300 inhabitants of the village of Blatten have lost everything. 90 percent of the village, around 130 houses and the church, are buried under a layer of rubbers. She was between 50 and 200 meters thick, said the natural chef Raphaël Mayoraz at a media conference. The cone is two kilometers long and about 200 meters wide. According to estimates, a total of three million cubic meters of rock, debris and ice from the Pirch glacier in the valley.

According to the authorities, the few remaining houses are now flooded by the growing water congestion of the Lonza. Blatten is the last village in the 27 -kilometer Lötschental. It is approximately 1500 meters.

The Swiss supervision of the mountains had already caused warnings in the middle of the afternoon that threatened a landslide above the village. When the cracks in the rock grew quickly, the call came quite suddenly on 19 May to leave the village within an hour. Many people quickly packed the bald supplies and left the village.

Then the rock and brocken thundered into the valley for days, but nothing of it reached. During the evacuation, many made it clear that they appreciated the precautionary measures, but still calculated that the village could get away lightly – such as comparable locations in other mountain areas.

The worst scenario has arrived
In the Lötschental, however, the worst conceivable scenario became reality. MP defeated Rieder of neighboring Weiler Wiler spoke on television of a century of disaster. “It is an event that the valley has never experienced since the start of historiography,” he said on Swiss television. “People have lost everything you have built all your life,” he said. “You look at the screen and can’t do anything, that’s a heavy shock.”

Search for a missing person
Because the ice and avalanches thundered the valley in the valley on Wednesday afternoon with gigantic roar and a dust cloud such as after an explosion and buried leaves, the residents are protected and cared for. City councilors are stunned for the press. A 64-year-old local was in the danger area despite evacuation on Wednesday and is still missing.

Financial immediate aids for the affected ones
Various aid organizations have now responded to those who have been affected with financial obligations for immediate help. Caritas Switzerland and the Swiss Red Cross (SRK) made the equivalent of 430,000 euros available for uncovered damage. The sponsorship for mountain communities wants to help in blats with more than a million euros.