Thunderstorms and heavy rain with flooding in Switzerland again

In the canton of Basel-Landschaft, south of downtown Basel, the police received several hundred reports of flooded cellars, power outages and other water damage on Tuesday evening. The situation had calmed down by Wednesday. In the canton of Vaud, the fire brigade was called out more than 200 times.

• Read also: Several hydroelectric power plants shut down after storms in Switzerland

In the town of Morges, the river of the same name flooded to a level that is statistically not expected even once every 100 years, police reported. No one was injured.

Flight operations suspended for two hours

In Geneva, flight operations had to be suspended for two hours after severe thunderstorms and heavy rain. Flooding at the airport affected a cooling room for servers in the Skyguide air traffic control building. To prevent the control systems from overheating, the airspace was closed shortly after 10 p.m. Around 50 arrivals and departures had to be cancelled. Camp beds and food were provided overnight for around 100 passengers. On Wednesday, the departures of the planes that were unable to land on Tuesday evening were cancelled. However, no major damage was caused and operations are back to normal, said an airport spokesman.

• More on the topic: Missing people and enormous damage after floods in Switzerland

At the end of last week, a landslide in Graubünden following heavy rainfall swept away three houses and destroyed part of the A13 motorway, an important connection through the Alps. Of the four missing people, one woman was rescued and one man was recovered dead. There is still no trace of the other two.