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The violent storms, tempests and torrential rains that swept across France, Switzerland, Italy and Germany on Saturday have left at least seven dead, according to initial reports given by local authorities on Sunday. In the north-east of France, three elderly people died on Saturday evening, crushed by a tree aboard their car in the Aube department, due to strong storms and winds, AFP learned from the prefecture on Sunday. A fourth passenger is still in absolute emergency. The orange storm alert has been lifted throughout France.
“Surprised by the rapid rise in water”
In Switzerland, four people have died and one is missing, according to local police. Three of the people killed were killed in a landslide caused by torrential rain in Ticino in the southeast of the country, cantonal police said Sunday. A man was also found dead in a hotel in Saas-Grund in the canton of Valais (southwest). He was “probably surprised by the rapid rise in water levels,” cantonal police said. Images published by the online media 20minuten show a section of the town, crossed by a thick layer of mud and rocks.
A man is also missing in Valais, police said. In Zermatt, the Visp has once again burst its banks, according to images posted on the social network X during the night. The images show muddy waters rushing down the streets of this famous mountain resort at the foot of the Matterhorn. Heavy rain had already caused flooding in the same places in the town on June 21. The army has deployed several Super Puma helicopters in Ticino and neighboring Valais.
In Ticino, several valleys near the Maggia Valley are no longer accessible and electricity has been cut off. Part of the canton is also without drinking water, according to the federal warning system Swissalert. A large part of Switzerland was hit by violent storms accompanied by very heavy rainfall on Saturday afternoon and until late in the evening. Already last week, the bad weather had left one person dead and two missing.
80 interventions to rescue people in difficulty in Piedmont
On the other side of the border, Piedmont and the Aosta Valley (north-west) are also experiencing floods and mudslides, but at this stage no deaths or missing people have been reported. Piedmont firefighters announced on Sunday morning that they had carried out 80 interventions to rescue people in difficulty. In Valle d’Aosta, an autonomous region located along the border with France and Switzerland, a mudslide temporarily blocked the regional road providing access to Cervinia. The overflowing of a torrent caused significant damage in the center of this tourist town where several stores were flooded.
Still in the Aosta Valley, a village of 1,300 inhabitants, Cogne, also found itself cut off from the world, a mudslide having blocked the access roads. The village recorded 90 mm of rainfall in six hours on Saturday. Near Cogne, in Valnontey, the electricity network is out of service, as is the water supply network. During the night, a helicopter rescued a family stranded in this locality.
The Rhône is overflowing
Further west, in Switzerland, overflows of the Rhone and its tributaries, swollen by torrential rains and melting snow, have led to the evacuation of several hundred people and the closure of many roads, according to local authorities in Valais. “Overflows and torrential lava” (mud and rock flows, editor’s note) have forced the closure to traffic of the Simplon Pass road, a major artery for international but also cantonal traffic, the authorities said.
“With the flow of the Rhône reaching 1,200 m3, the decision was taken by the cantonal authorities to preventively evacuate the Aigle Industrial Zone”, which is located to the south-east of Lake Geneva, they explained in a press release. Anticipating the risk of storms, several cantons had preventively closed the fan zones, thus depriving thousands of supporters of the Swiss national team of the opportunity to collectively celebrate the victory against Italy (2-0) at the Euro.
In Germany, the Germany-Denmark match (2-0) on Saturday evening had to be interrupted for several minutes due to a violent storm accompanied by intense rain and hail.
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