Storm – La Chaux-de-Fonds the day after – authorities call for caution – News

  • After the storm in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the clean-up work resumed on Tuesday morning.
  • The authorities urge caution outdoors.
  • Around 200 households still have no electricity.
  • One person was killed and around 40 injured in Monday’s storm, with peak gusts of over 200 km/h.

The night went well, said Daniel Favre, spokesman for the Neuchâtel police, on radio RTS in western Switzerland. Road traffic on the main axes can be guaranteed.

Clean-up work in progress


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In the center of La Chaux-de-Fonds, the clean-up work is in full swing, reports SRF Romandie correspondent Andreas Stüdli. “You see forest workers or cranes that are used to secure the roofs.” Meanwhile, many victims were waiting for representatives of the insurance companies so that they could record the damage. “The mayor assumes that up to 1000 houses could have been damaged – the damage is in the hundreds of millions of francs.”

After all, you help each other clean up – and many people are glad that nothing much worse happened – even if tragically one person was killed and several dozen were injured. “As strong as this storm was: people are convinced that it could have been much worse,” says Stüdli.

However, the train connections to Le Locle and Neuchâtel are still interrupted. In addition, many trees or damaged roofs are not yet secured. According to Favre, around 200 households currently have to get by without electricity.

Legend:

The storm knocked down several trees. They landed on streets, paths and roundabouts.

Keystone/VALENTIN FLAURAUD

Insurers expect extraordinary losses

Helvetia Insurance assumes damage in the low single-digit million range, as the company announced at the request of Keystone-SDA. Storm, hail and lightning are responsible for this.

In a storm of this magnitude, we face a different type of damage.

From the insurer’s point of view, the wind speeds of over 200 km/h and the “violence of the weather storm” were particularly noteworthy in the storm on Monday afternoon.

Scenes of devastation in La Chaux-de-Fonds

The insurance company Axa expects an initial assessment of the damage during the day. “The storm caused major damage to buildings, vehicles, household goods and life and limb. Vehicles were mainly damaged by fallen bricks and branches,” she said.

Other storms would mainly cause hail damage to cars, Axa explains. “However, in a storm of this magnitude, we face a different type of damage.

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