Floods in Switzerland in 2007
The 2007 flood in Switzerland was the fourth flood of the century in Switzerland since 1999.
After heavy rainfall, mainly in the Swiss plateau , French-speaking Switzerland and north-western Switzerland , numerous streams and rivers burst their banks on August 8th and 9th, 2007, flooding numerous villages and interrupting transport connections. A few were injured, but no fatalities (directly caused by the flood) were reported.
In some cases, the same areas were affected as in the Alpine flood in 2005 , but also other areas. In contrast to 2005, the pre-Alps were largely spared. The amount of rain that had fallen (in Zurich, for example, more rain fell within 24 hours than usual in the whole of August) in some cases exceeded the values of 2005. Some of the rivers also carried more water than two years ago.
affected areas
The Laufental valley in Basel was particularly hard hit . The high-rise Birs flooded areas near the river, u. a. a bathing establishment, a campsite and the H18 motorway. The district capital of Laufen was particularly hard hit . Its historic old town was flooded up to two meters. Electricity and gas were turned off for several days. At times the Birsbrücken had to be closed over a length of over 30 km. The town centers of Therwil and Biel-Benken were also flooded in the Leimental . In the Basel area, the Ergolz and Frenke also burst their banks, but caused less damage.
In Basel , a few centimeters were missing until Kleinbasel was flooded by the Rhine . However, a general siren alarm was triggered because a weir failure on the upper reaches of the Birs, which flows into the Rhine in Basel, was feared.
In the Huttwil region , after heavy rainfall, the Langete and other bodies of water overflowed their banks and in some cases caused great damage. In Eriswil , a pensioner was surprised by the floods in her house and died. In Huttwil a couple died when they were swept away by the Langete.
Other areas of damage
- In Roche VD , the village stream flooded the place, depositing a lot of debris in the place.
- In Bern , the Aare flooded the Matte district .
- In Littau and Emmenbrücke , the Kleine Emme flooded various quarters, and a siren alarm was triggered beforehand.
- After a dam burst at the Klingnau reservoir and a siren alarm, Döttingen and Kleindöttingen were flooded.
- In Olten and Aarau the Aare flooded various quarters, in Olten the power went out.
- The Bern-Freiburg railway line was undermined and closed for a week.
- Various lakes, so u. a. the Sarnersee , Brienzersee , Thunersee and Bielersee reached the damage marks.
- Lyss was flooded three times by the Lyssbach in 2007 .
- In Affoltern am Albis , a disaster could only be prevented by the Jonenbach flood retention basin, which was completed a few months earlier .
See also
Web links
- Berner Zeitung : How the water is distributed as fairly as possible (October 5, 2019)