2024 - Floods - Southern Germany under water - Switzerland also affected

The south of Germany is struggling with severe flooding.
In Switzerland, too, heavy rainfall on Saturday morning in eastern and parts of central Switzerland as well as in the Mittelland led to numerous floods, landslides and flooded cellars.
The flood situation remains tense, with further rainfall forecast for Sunday.

In eastern Switzerland, several roads were temporarily impassable on Saturday due to landslides or flooding. Individual cantonal roads in the cantons of Zurich, St. Gallen and Thurgau were affected, the Touring Club Switzerland (TCS) announced.

Floods in Switzerland

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Legend:

The water levels of several rivers in Eastern Switzerland became critical on Friday afternoon due to heavy rainfall.

BRK News

Flooded trees in a landscape after heavy rain.

Flooded landscape with trees and bushes.

A campsite is threatened by the water masses.

Since Friday evening there has been a significant risk of flooding on the Rhine from Lake Constance to Basel and on the Thur from the Sitter estuary to the Rhine.

The heavy rainfall has led to an increase in falling blocks and rocks from the landslide above Brienz GR. According to authorities on Friday afternoon, there is no danger for the village. The Brienz/Brinzauls municipal administration advised the population on X to stick to the safety zone.

In mid-March, several thousand cubic meters of rock material fell above the municipality. The Graubünden mountain village was spared. There was no danger for the residents. Brienz was evacuated on May 12, 2023. Up to two million cubic meters of rock threatened to fall from the mighty mountain slope above the village, the volume of 2,000 single-family homes. During the night of June 16, 2023, 1.2 million cubic meters of rock fell in a massive debris flow. This stopped just before the village and left it undamaged. At the beginning of July, the people of Brienz returned to their homes.

The danger is not over yet, a spokesman for the Thurgau cantonal police told SRF. So far, around 150 reports of damage have been received. There have been no injuries. The Thurgau cantonal police advise residents to continue to be cautious and not to go too close to the banks.

By Saturday morning, Zurich fire departments had been called out 200 times because of water in buildings or flooded streets. The Zurich Oberland as well as Zell and Turbenthal were particularly affected, wrote Schutz&Rettung Zürich on the short message service X. The professional fire department was also called out several times in the area of the city of Zurich because of water damage.

In the canton of Thurgau, more than 150 reports of damage had been received by Saturday afternoon. In most cases, the fire brigades were called out because of flooded cellars, the cantonal police said. In some places, the Thur and smaller streams overflowed their banks and landslides were also reported. No one was injured.

In the canton of St. Gallen, the emergency call center coordinated around 90 fire service operations, the cantonal police said in response to a query. The northern part of the canton was particularly affected.

In the canton of Zug, several house entrances, cellars and laundry rooms were under water. The police registered 15 reports. A lot of water also collected on the A14 motorway between Baar and Zug, the Zug police also reported. Lake Zug and Lake Ägeri overflowed their banks in some places.

On Friday evening, the federal government’s natural hazards portal issued a flood risk level of 3 out of 5 for the Rhine and Thur. At this risk level, the federal government advises people to stay away from the waters. According to the federal government, there is a moderate flood risk level 2 for: Lake Constance (Upper and Lower Lake), Lake Zurich, Sihl from Adliswil to the Limmat estuary, Limmat from Lake Zurich to the Aare estuary, Lake Lucerne, Reuss from Lake Lucerne to the Aare estuary and the Aare from Lake Biel to the Rhine estuary.