Police said there was a significant landslide in the Fontana area of the Maggia valley, which is near the city of Locarno. They said in a statement that the bodies of two people were recovered and were being identified, while rescuers were searching for another person who remained missing.
Camping sites along the Maggia river were evacuated, and part of the small Visletto road bridge collapsed. Three other valleys in the region were unreachable by road.
Further north, the Rhone river burst its banks in several areas of Valais canton, flooding a highway and a railway line.