On Wednesday, a massive slab of ice, mud and rock—estimated in millions of cubic meters—thundered down from the Birch Glacier, burying most of Blatten, Switzerland under a two-kilometer pile of debris.
Earlier in May, authorities evacuated all 300 residents after warning that part of the mountain had begun to crumble. When the collapse finally came, only a handful of houses clung to the valley before being inundated by floodwaters.
Search teams are still looking for a 64-year-old man believed to have been in the village when the avalanche struck. Officials halted operations on Thursday, citing unstable terrain and the risk of more rockfalls.
The debris has blocked the Lonza River, sending water levels soaring by up to 80 centimeters per hour. Geologists now say a sudden flood is unlikely, but Valais security chief Stephane Ganzer cautioned: 'It's unlikely, but we don't really like that word unlikely here since yesterday, because we know that unlikely can become likely.'
Downstream in Ferden, crews emptied an artificial dam to prepare for any unexpected surge. Still, the scene in Ried—a nearby hamlet wiped out alongside Blatten—offers few clues that a community ever stood there.
Werner Bellwald, a 65-year-old cultural studies expert, lost his family's wooden home built in 1654. 'You can't tell that there was ever a settlement there,' he said. 'Things happened there that no one here thought were possible.'
Scientists suspect the collapse may be linked to rising temperatures in the Alps, a stark reminder of how climate change can reshape landscapes overnight.
Reference(s):
Swiss residents in shock after glacier debris buries village
cgtn.com
