Swiss Glacier Collapse: Village Buried
- A massive glacial collapse has buried much of the Swiss village of Blatten, leaving residents reeling and prompting concerns about the impact of climate change on the Alps.
- Rescue teams, utilizing search dogs and thermal drones, are still searching for a missing 64-year-old man.
- Water levels rose rapidly, about 80 centimeters per hour, due to the blocked river and melting glacier ice, according to Stephane Ganzer, head of the Valais canton security...
Swiss Village Devastated by Glacial Collapse: Climate Change Impact?
Updated May 16, 2024
A massive glacial collapse has buried much of the Swiss village of Blatten, leaving residents reeling and prompting concerns about the impact of climate change on the Alps. Millions of cubic meters of ice, mud, and rock cascaded down the mountain on Wednesday, engulfing the village. The 300 residents had been evacuated earlier in May due to the instability of the Birch Glacier.
Rescue teams, utilizing search dogs and thermal drones, are still searching for a missing 64-year-old man. However, local authorities suspended the search Thursday afternoon due to unstable debris and the risk of further rockfalls.the glacial collapse has also caused significant flooding as debris blocked the River Lonza, creating a large lake.
Water levels rose rapidly, about 80 centimeters per hour, due to the blocked river and melting glacier ice, according to Stephane Ganzer, head of the Valais canton security division. The Swiss army is closely monitoring the situation,and Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter will visit the site Friday after cutting short talks in Ireland.
“I don’t want to talk just now. I lost everything yesterday. I hope you understand,”
— Blatten resident
Werner Bellwald, a cultural studies expert, lost his family home in Ried, a hamlet near Blatten, which was also destroyed. The Swiss village is now unrecognizable, he said.
“you can’t tell that there was ever a settlement there.Things happened there that no one here thought were possible.”
— Werner Bellwald, cultural studies expert
Ganzer noted that the worst-case scenario would involve a debris wave breaching the Ferden Dam. However,he added that this was unlikely,as the dam had been emptied as a precaution. Buildings in Blatten that initially survived the landslide are now flooded, and some residents of nearby villages have been evacuated.
Authorities are airlifting livestock from the area. Jonas Jeitziner, a local official in Wiler, expressed profound shock when asked about the future.
The disaster has renewed concerns about the impact of rising temperatures on Alpine permafrost, which can destabilize rock structures. Matthias Huss, head of Glacier Monitoring in Switzerland, suggested that climate change likely contributed to the collapse by loosening the rock mass within the permafrost.
“Unexpected things happen at places that we have not seen for hundreds of years, most probably due to climate change.”
— Matthias Huss, head of Glacier Monitoring in switzerland
What’s next
Authorities will continue to assess the stability of the area and provide support to affected residents. Monitoring of the Birch glacier and surrounding permafrost will intensify to mitigate future risks.