Switzerland on Alert as Heavy Rains Cause Floods, Landslides

(Bloomberg) — Switzerland is on alert after heavy rainfall caused widespread damage in recent days, including triggering a landslide that buried part of a village in the country’s southeast. 

Flood risks continue, the Swiss Federal Office of Meteorology said on its website. The state broadcaster SRF said further landslides are possible as heavily saturated soil can’t properly absorb more rain.

Video and photographs on local media showed overflowing rivers, a collapsed motorway and rubble covering parts of the Misox valley in the canton of Graubünden. The rains temporarily closed routes to the famous tourist town of Zermatt — close to the Matterhorn — cutting it off from the rest of the country. Rail services resumed Saturday evening, according to the Matterhorn-Gotthard Bahn service.

Rescuers found the body of a man, one of three people reported to have been swept away by a rockslide, the Associated Press reported, citing emergency authorities. 

In a post on X, President Viola Amherd described the damage as “shocking.”

Swiss Army personnel were deployed to search for missing people and to evacuate others. 

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The flooding comes weeks after parts of neighboring Germany were submerged following persistent rainfall, disrupting rail services and shipping on the key Rhine and Danube shipping routes.    

(Updates with one body found, in fourth paragraph.)

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