(Bloomberg) — Switzerland faced heavy rainfall and thunderstorms for the second weekend in a row, causing landslides, floods and property damage in the mountainous south of the country.
Two people died and another was missing following a mudslide, a bridge collapse cut off some valleys from access by land, and parts of the A9 national highway are closed after the Maggia and Vispa rivers broke their banks in the cantons of Ticino and Valais, according to reports by national broadcaster SRF.
Some mountain roads, including the Gotthard Pass that connects the alpine nation’s north and south, are closed temporarily, and local rail lines have been interrupted as well.
The Swiss Army has been deployed, but continuing rain is complicating rescue efforts, the Ticino cantonal police told SRF on Sunday. Flood risks continue for Lake Constance and the Rhone River, the Swiss Federal Office of Meteorology said on its website.
President Viola Amherd called on the nation’s residents to stay alert and follow official instructions.
The latest severe weather comes just a week after heavy rainfall caused damage in Switzerland’s Misox valley, and weeks after large parts of southern Germany also faced widespread flooding.
The increased incidence of extreme weather events has been tied to climate change, and puts a focus on the need for additional spending on protective measures.
“The infrastructure in certain alpine valleys will be destroyed more often than it can be rebuilt,” Reinhard Steurer, a climate policy expert, told the newspaper NZZ.
Swiss cantons, municipalities and the federal government spent around CHF 625 million ($692 million) in the past year on protection against natural hazards, on top of investments for structurally weak areas in the Alps, NZZ estimated.
(Updates with background on climate-related spending from seventh paragraph.)
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