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The residents have had to hold out in a temporary home for a good two weeks. A stressful situation.
Elisabeth Arpagaus has been provided with a furnished apartment in Tiefencastel, Graubünden. That’s nothing compared to her house in Brienz, but she’s settled in, despite all the uncertainty.
Legend:
Elisabeth Arpagaus whiles away the wait in her temporary home by playing games on her tablet.
SRF
“The worst thing is that you don’t know when the landslide will happen and how much debris will come loose.”
Non-return hurts
In Lenzerheide, the days since leaving home are being counted. The Müller family currently lives with their children in an apartment that they found through a friend. It hurts that it wasn’t possible to return home again in the last few days.
«I would have gone into the garden, gotten a few more chives, looked at my plants and checked whether they needed a little more water. After that I would have gone into the house and got some things for my son; he has a school trip in two weeks,” explains Maria Müller.
Because the mountain suddenly behaves differently, the possibility of visiting the residents on Wednesday had to be canceled again on Friday.
Geologist Andreas Huwiler doesn’t want to take any safety risks: “We weren’t too optimistic. We trusted our model and are surprised that it has deviated from the movements on the mountain in recent days.”
Phase Blue is imminent
The biggest concern for the people of Brienz is when and if they will be allowed to return home at all – and what is left of it in the worst case. Elisabeth Arpagaus tries to take it easy, although she is homesick. “I wanted to go see the cemetery. I forgot joker cards and the pedicure kit; Little things that I don’t necessarily have to have now.”
In Brienz, it is expected that the blue phase will soon be declared, the last warning level before the event.