Saas Valley in southern Switzerland remains isolated after landslide
General view of Saas-Grund, Switzerland, on June 30, 2024. The Saas Valley region was hit by severe storms at the end of June and beginning of July. Floods and mudslides caused major damage to buildings and infrastructure.
Keystone / Jean-Christophe Bott
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening: Saas Valley in southern Switzerland remains isolated after landslide
Storms and heavy rain have triggered a landslide that closed the main cantonal road into the Saas Valley in southern Switzerland on Thursday.
The Saaservispa mountain stream is overflowing its banks in several places, Swiss public radio, SRF, reported on Thursday morning.
Officials in the Saas Valley had tried to make the necessary preparations ahead of heavy rain on Wednesday.
“We already set up excavators on the side streams yesterday evening,” said Bruno Ruppen, the mayor of Saas-Grund. “This morning, from half past six, it started raining harder, but as of now, we have the water under control.”
Despite the efforts, a landslide occurred on the access road from Stalden to Saas-Grund and a mudslide tore away a bridge near Eisten. The cantonal road is therefore temporarily closed.
“It will be open to traffic again tomorrow at the earliest,” said Ruppen.
No one was injured in the landslide. And so far no flooding has been reported in Saas-Grund.
Heavy rain is forecast on Thursday but Ruppen expects the situation will remain under control.
Schools will remain closed until this evening. “We are keeping an eye on the critical areas, the situation remains tense,” says Ruppen.
The Saas Valley region was hit by severe storms at the end of June and beginning of July. Floods and mudslides caused major damage to buildings and infrastructure.
Translated from German by DeepL/sb
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
As a Swiss Abroad, how do you feel about the emergence of more conservative family policies in some US states?
In recent years several US states have adopted more conservative policies on family issues, abortion and education. As a Swiss citizen living there, how do you view this development?
The image of foreigners in Switzerland has deteriorated
This content was published on
The Federal Statistical Office has found that Swiss people’s views of foreigners have worsened over the last couple of years.
After mild winter, nature wakes up earlier in Switzerland
This content was published on
Once again this year, nature has woken up earlier than normal, between a week and ten days ahead of schedule due to a mild winter.
Computer failure disrupts air traffic at Geneva airport
This content was published on
A computer breakdown has disrupted operations at Geneva Airport since midday on Tuesday. Significant delays are expected.
Swiss show high willingness to pay for sustainable flats
This content was published on
Tenants in Switzerland are in favour of sustainable flats. However, the willingness to pay differs by income according to a new study.
Swiss customs intercepted over 200 tonnes of smuggled meat in 2024
This content was published on
The Federal Office for Customs and Border Security intercepted around 208 tonnes of smuggled meat at border crossings in 2024.
Switzerland faces infrastructure gaps for CO2 capture
This content was published on
Switzerland must actively remove CO2 from the air in order to become climate-neutral by 2050. However, the infrastructure for this isn't sufficient.
Swiss parliament prohibits sale of Swiss space company Beyond Gravity
This content was published on
The Swiss parliament has said that the Swiss government should not sell the Swiss space company Beyond Gravity, which is part of RUAG.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.