A catastrophic series of events has seen severe storms and pouring rains devastate France, Switzerland, and Italy. Local authorities claimed that at least seven people died as a result of the tragedy that occurred over the weekend.
The Catastrophe Unfolds (Photo : GEORGES GOBET/AFP via Getty Images)
The constant rainstorm caused a landslide in southeast Switzerland, signaling the start of the natural disaster. This tragedy's heart was the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, where the natural disaster took three lives.
When a guy was found dead in a hotel in Saas-Grund, in the southwest canton of Valais, the situation became more heated. It is thought that the victim was unprepared for the abrupt and swift surge of floodwaters.
In a different but no less terrible event in France, three elderly people died from injuries sustained when their vehicle was crushed by a falling tree that was uprooted by the force of the storm.
This sad incident happened in the Aube region in the northeast. In intensive care, a fourth passenger who was in the car is currently fighting for their life.
Emergency Response and Evacuations
Due to the intensity of the storms, "several hundred" residents of the southern canton of Valais were evacuated by Swiss civil security authorities right away.
Overwhelmed by the flood, the Rhone and its tributaries spilled, forcing the evacuation of residents from the risk areas and the closing of roadways.
Even while Valais officials claimed on Sunday that everything was "under control," they issued a warning that things would be "fragile" in the coming days.
Emergency personnel are currently concentrating on evacuating some 70 people from a holiday camp in the village of Mogno and 300 people who had come for a football tournament in the alpine town of Peccia.
Rescue operations have been greatly hindered by the unfavorable weather, with numerous valleys in the southern cantons of Ticino and Valais, close to the Italian border, becoming uninhabitable and cut off from the electricity system.
Approximately 400 individuals in Ticino were evacuated from high-risk regions to civil protection shelters, including 40 children from a vacation camp.
Ignazio Cassis, the Swiss Foreign Minister, is a native of Ticino and has expressed great worry about the frequent tragedies, saying they have a significant impact on the community.
The worst flood since 2000, when a mudslide destroyed the village of Gondo, killing 13 people, could hardly be in starker contrast to this fair-weather scene.
The latest findings of research prove that weather extremes, storms, floods, and tornadoes are tremors that hit with greater strength, frequency, and duration than human-induced climate change.
The tragic events within the last couple of years must now be a rude awakening as to how pressing it is to address environmental problems and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Rescue Operations Underway
Relief efforts are underway in France, Switzerland, and Italy following deadly storms. The authorities worked fast to respond, with evacuations right on top of the agenda.
Several hundred people have already been evacuated in southern canton Valais alone, while emergency services work out how to evacuate 300 people attending a football tournament in Peccia and nearly 70 at a holiday camp in Mogno.
The situation has made the valleys of the southern cantons-Ticino and Valais-near the Italian border, inaccessible and power-disconnected.
Work is going on to ensure that the affected people get power and drinking water as well. In northern Italy, rescue operations have been upon request of the fire brigades to assist people in difficulty, and cleaning a mudslide in the Aosta Valley allowed the reopening of a regional road to the ski resort of Cervinia.
Supplying help, restoring vital services to the impacted populations, and ensuring public safety and well-being will take precedence.
Ultimately, although Europe struggles to recover from these devastating storms, the most important things will still be to rescue people, support the families impacted, and build infrastructure so that it can endure similar tragedies in the future.