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The authorities have declared the red phase. Entering the village has been forbidden since 6 p.m. Answers to the most important questions.
What is the current situation in the mountain village of Brienz, which is threatened by a rock fall? A rock volume of two million cubic meters above the village of Brienz (GR) is currently moving very strongly. The authorities therefore declared the red phase on Friday afternoon. Entry into the entire endangered area has been prohibited since 6 p.m. Phase red means: A damaging event is imminent in the next 4 to 14 days.
The Federal Office for Civil Aviation also issued a no-fly zone over the village. It extends from the ground to an altitude of 3050 meters and has a radius of around 3.5 kilometers. The no-fly zone also applies to drones.
Who had to leave the village? The evacuation of Brienz is now complete. In a final tour of the village, the community leadership made sure that all 84 residents were gone. “There is no one left in the village,” confirmed the communications officer for the Albula community, Christian Gartmann, at the request of the Keystone-SDA news agency on Friday evening. All the animals, including the large cattle, were also brought to safety.
Where will the population be housed in the near future? Christian Gartmann confirmed to the Keystone-SDA news agency that accommodation had been found for all 84 residents. More than 130 apartments were offered to the community. “We selected the most suitable offers and mediated the parties,” says Gartmann.
What are the possible scenarios on the slope? According to Simon Löw, professor emeritus for engineering geology at the ETH Zurich and advisor to the government of Graubünden, precise measurements can be used to make precise statements about the development over time. But what exactly will happen in the next few days is difficult to predict in detail. “It is possible that the slope is simply moving faster and faster and that a kind of flow develops from this.” Another possibility is that there are many smaller rockfalls. In the most extreme, rather unlikely case, there could be a landslide, in which large masses of rock thundered down the slope within 30 seconds at a speed of 100 to 200 kilometers per hour and destroyed the village.
Is climate change responsible for endangering Brienz? No, says expert Löw. Because: “In Brienz there is no permafrost that thaws. There is also no correlation between annual precipitation and slope slip speed. So the instability of the slope in Brienz has nothing to do with climate change.” This differs from many other unstable areas in the Alps, where the thawing permafrost is the main cause.