When flood protection works

Heavy rainfall has caused flooding in parts of Switzerland. Prevention measures in place have helped make some parts flood proof – for now. (SRF/swissinfo.ch)

Schüpfheim in central Switzerland saw two rivers burst their banks. In the Emmental region, floods even carried away some cars. And in the south, in Ticino, a landslide covered the connecting road from Gandria to Lugano.

There are only a few things the authorities can do once the flooding has started. Altstetten in St Gallen is working around the clock to free canals from debris in order to make space for new water, as more rainfall was expected. Just the day before everything had been covered with mud and water.

Other places that had set up protection measures beforehand, were left unharmed. A new bridge and a new dam in Burgdorf near Bern were only finished this spring. The measures proved to be a success.

St Gallen’s Altstetten is not quite there yet. Here the city river tore up part of the old canal. Experts are now meticulously taking notes of what happened in order to make corrections for the future.