Switzerland: Growing fear of alpine landslides

DW (English)

Climate change is increasing the danger of landslides in Switzerland's alpine region. Thawing permafrost is no longer holding mountain rocks in place. An increasing number of residents are moving away.

Transcript

00:00Franziska von Bergen is mowing the lawn in front of her house in Switzerland's Bernese Oberland one last time.

00:10Her family has lived here in the village of Gutanen for generations.

00:16But the moving boxes are already packed.

00:19She's been forced to leave.

00:21Her home is threatened by flows of debris known as murgänge, rock slides from the surrounding mountains.

00:30These images taken from a surveillance camera in Gutanen reveal the danger.

00:38You couldn't actually see much because of all the dust and mist in the air.

00:42The weather was bad.

00:44It always is when things like this happen.

00:47It was just before dark and it was eerie.

00:50You could only hear the roar of the water, the rocks being pushed along the creek bed.

00:56The smell of the earth was everywhere.

01:03Her house stands alongside the Are River.

01:06There was once a small riverbed here.

01:09Now some 20 metres of stone and debris have built up.

01:13The next flood could hit the houses too.

01:19Gutanen would actually make a picture-perfect postcard.

01:22Nestled amongst tall mountains, the way Switzerland likes to present itself to tourists.

01:28A paradise for bikers, hikers and mountaineers.

01:33The nearby Grimsel Pass offers day-trippers an alpine panorama.

01:38Werner Schleppi has no time to take in the scenery though.

01:42Gutanen's village mayor shows us what's posing the threat to his community.

01:52It's these couloirs above the treeline, typically filled with rocks and ice.

01:58With temperatures rising though, they've begun to thaw out.

02:04With the thawing of the permafrost and the warming that's undoubtedly taking place,

02:09collapses are coming.

02:11The brittle rock face is loose.

02:15If it's warm over a long period and the zero-degree isotherm line rises to 4,000 metres or higher

02:21for two to three weeks in summer, this area becomes dangerous.

02:32Dangerous like it was here in Switzerland in summer of 2024.

02:37Following heavy rains, a debris flow swept through a village in the Grisons, destroying key roads.

02:44A week later, after torrential downpours, ones hit neighbouring Ticino

02:50and the Saas Valley in the Valais.

02:54Swiss tourist destinations are facing the consequences of increasingly hot summers,

02:59paired with significant rainfall.

03:05Markus Wies is an engineer responsible for protecting the Bernese Oberland.

03:10Here in Brienz, a debris flow even breached a 15-metre high safety barrier.

03:19In mid-August, masses of water swept through the village, taking everything with them, including trees.

03:29The local authorities are in regular dialogue with Brienz residents

03:33and don't shy away from uncomfortable truths.

03:37Can the houses here near the riverbed stay?

03:40Or will they have to make way for additional protective measures?

03:44Rebuilding everything time and again would eventually become too expensive.

03:51We'll never achieve 100% security.

03:55On the one hand, it's barely feasible, both technically and financially.

03:59On the other, in light of climate change, uncertainty about how things will develop in the future is quite high.

04:08Tens of thousands of cubic metres of debris had to be removed, not just from the protective wall here.

04:14Brienz aims to start afresh, despite knowing that catastrophes like this

04:19are coming more frequently for Swiss mountain towns.

04:22A rethink is inevitable.

04:26What would it mean if safety could no longer be assured?

04:30Does it mean certain areas would become unusable?

04:34That some settlements, especially in highly exposed mountain regions, might even have to be abandoned?

04:45Abandon entire villages because climate change makes it too dangerous to keep living there?

04:51In nearby Guthanen, that decision has already been made.

04:55The houses here have been evacuated.

04:58Franziska von Bergen and her family will soon move further down in the valley

05:03into a new, safer home.

05:07You're grateful you can leave before something happens.

05:10It just shows how quickly something like that can take place.

05:13Depending on the situation, you might not have time to react.

05:20In Swiss alpine towns, residents know, no matter how idyllic it may look,

05:25there's no denying the forces of nature.

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