SWITZERLAND: THREE DAYS OF TORRENTIAL RAIN BRINGS FLOODS AND LANDSLIDES IN CENTRAL SWITZERLAND

Record ID: 648869

  • Title: SWITZERLAND: THREE DAYS OF TORRENTIAL RAIN BRINGS FLOODS AND LANDSLIDES IN CENTRAL SWITZERLAND
  • Date: 22nd August 2005
  • Summary: (BN13) OBFELDEN, SWITZERLAND (AUGUST 22, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. WIDE OF MOTORWAY NEAR FLOODED RIVER 0.04 2. VARIOUS OF RIVER WHICH HAS BURST BANKS 0.09 3. WIDE OF TREE BRANCHES FLOATING DOWN RIVER 0.17 4. SLV PEOPLE ON BRIDGE WATCHING 0.20 5. CLOSE OF "REUSS" NAME ON BRIDGE 0.23 6. WIDE OF FLOODED RIVER 0.27 7. WIDE OF PEOPLE ON BRIDGE LOOKING AT RIVER 0.32 8. CLOSE OF TREE STUMP FLOATING DOWN RIVER 0.35 9. WIDE OF FLOODED COUNTRYSIDE WITH BUILDINGS UNDERWATER 0.39 10. WIDE OF DEBRIS FLOATING IN RIVER 0.45 11. WIDE OF FLOOD AND BUILDINGS UNDER WATER 0.50 (BN13) EMMEN, SWITZERLAND (AUGUST 22, 2005) (REUTERS) 12. SLV FOUR-WHEEL DRIVE CAR DRIVING THROUGH WATER NEAR ROAD BRIDGE 1.10 13. SLV CAR STUCK IN WATER 1.17 14. WIDE OF CAR IN FLOODWATERS / STREET SIGN 1.23 (BN13) BUCHRAIN, SWITZERLAND (AUGUST 22, 2005) (REUTERS) 15. VARIOUS RIVER LOCK WITH FLOOD WATER GUSHING OVER 1.33 16. VARIOUS TREES STUCK AT RIVER LOCK/ PAN ACROSS RIVER LOCK 1.43 17. CLOSE OF DEBRIS OF BRANCHES 1.50 18. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (German) XSAVER GLOGGNER, FIRE DEPARTMENT OF BUCHRAIN, SAYING: "We hope that the (flood) warning can be lifted soon but at the moment it doesn't look at all likely. Every couple of hours it (the floodwater) rises and then it goes down - and then it's back up again." 2.02 19. VARIOUS OF FLOOD WATERS GUSHIN INTO LOCK 2.08 20. VARIOUS OF BRANCHES AND DEBRIS OF TREES FLOATING DOWN RIVER , PULLOUT TO DAMAGED RIVER BANK 2.21 21. VARIOUS OF BRIDGE OVER RIVER LOCK 2.32 22. PAN ALONGB BRANCHES AND REMAINS OF TREES 2.50 23. VARIOUS OF OVERTURNED LORRY IN RIVER 3.04 24. WIDE OF MORE DEBRIS IN RIVER 3.12 25. WIDE OF TRACTOR CLEARING DEBRIS FROM RIVER 3.23 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 6th September 2005 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: OBFELDEN, EMMEN, BUCHRAIN, SWITZERLAND
  • Country: Switzerland
  • Reuters ID: LVA123S5ZD78YQWJHY4V4I9NGODB
  • Story Text: Swiss downpour brings floods and landslides.


    Torrential rain has lashed Switzerland non-stop for nearly three
    days, unleashing landslides and floods which have cut off villages in central
    Switzerland and killed two fire-fighters.

    Flooding stretches from the Bernese Alps in central Switzerland to the
    city of St Gallen in the northeast, as rivers burst their banks and lakes
    overflow.

    Two fire-fighters were killed in a landslide during the night in
    Entlebuch in the canton (state) of Lucerne, Swiss television said on Monday
    (August 22, 2005), adding the region remained cut off after roads and rail tracks
    were flooded.

    Bridges threatened to collapse under the force of the floodwaters and
    part of a major highway connecting Lucerne and Zug was closed as water came
    close to submerging the road.

    Lucerne police said in a statement there had been several landslides in
    the Entlebuch area, while the rivers Reuss and Emme had burst their banks.


    "We hope that the (flood) warning can be lifted soon but at the
    moment it doesn't look at all likely. Every couple of hours it (the
    floodwater) rises and then it goes down - and then it's back up again,"
    said Xsaver Gloggnern from the fire departnent of the town of Buchrain.

    Rain continued to fall on Monday as bulldozers cleared mud from the
    streets and fire-fighters pumped water from flooded cellars in towns across
    central and eastern Switzerland.

    In a mountainous country dependent on public transport, Swiss railways
    advised against travelling in central Switzerland and said numerous train
    links, including between the capital Berne and the city of Lucerne, had been cut.
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