Body recovered from Swiss river following floods

Repair work is continuing in and round the Moesa River near Lostallo. Keystone/Samuel Golay

A woman's body was found in the River Moesa near Grono, canton Graubünden, on Thursday. It was initially unclear whether this was one of the people missing after last week's heavy storms in eastern Switzerland, which caused damage totalling CHF38 million ($42 million). 

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Emergency services discovered the body at 10:25am, the cantonal police wrote on Thursday evening. The discovery was the result of a joint search operation by various emergency services, triggered by the two people still missing after the storms. The emergency services had already recovered a man’s body from the Moesa on Sunday. The day before, a survivor was freed from masses of debris. 

Municipal representatives described the finding on Thursday morning as a tragedy. In a written statement, they offered condolences to the family who lost their loved one and to the families of those still missing. 

Lostallo appeals for donations 

Although various losses in the Mesolcina Valley, also known as Misox, were compensated by insurance companies or covered by cantonal and federal contributions, the municipality of Lostallo, which has a population of 897, was left with high residual costs, the municipality added. These could “never be covered by the annual budget alone”. For this reason, a donation account has now been set up. 

+ Six hydroelectric power plants hit by flooding in southeast Switzerland

Five buildings, including three residential buildings, were completely destroyed in the storm. Up to 130 other cases of damage to buildings have been reported and are currently being processed by the Graubünden buildings insurance company. A drinking water pipe was also damaged over a length of 600 to 800 metres. 

In total, 100 hectares of land were affected by the flooding. Some 400 metres of bank of the River Moesa were eroded. Eight kilometres of roads were flooded and 30% of the road network was damaged. Some 290,000 cubic metres of alluvial material and mud had to be cleared away. The cantonal road is now clear again, but is only open to local traffic. Anyone wishing to drive on it needs a licence. 

Longer traffic jams due to closed A13 motorway 

Work on the washed-out A13 motorway near Lostallo is continuing. The Federal Roads Office (FEDRO) is expecting longer traffic jams on the alternative routes via the A2 at the Gotthard, the Simplon route and the Great St. Bernard Pass due to the upcoming holiday traffic, as was reported in a press release. Already on Wednesday, 18% more vehicles were counted on the Gotthard than a year ago. 

Until the San Bernardino route can be re-opened, the washed-out section of the A13 motorway will have to be filled in again. During the storms, 200 metres of the road were torn away. 

One lane of the motorway should open again on July 10. As the roadworks are a temporary solution, the A13 motorway will have a slightly lower capacity than usual, FEDRO added. The reasons for this are the reduced speed and traffic routing in two-way traffic. 

Construction work will also be necessary on the Simplon alternative route over the next few days. The Engi tunnel is endangered by debris flows due to the heavy rainfall and must be additionally supported. A traffic service will control traffic during the construction. In addition, Swiss Federal Railways announced that 11,000 additional seats would be available on the Gotthard railway line over the weekend. 

Adapted from German by DeepL/kc/ts

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