Switzerland has been scrambling to build up its flood defences since the “flood of the century” in 2005 left parts of the country under water, causing CHF3 billion in damage and claiming seven lives. Billions of francs have since been spent on beefing up flood defences. More money is being poured into solutions, including a CHF1 billion pledge to protect the Rhine Valley between Switzerland and Austria over the next three decades. But such measures once again proven inadequate to prevent large scale damage and at least one death in recent days. Are Switzerland’s flood defences up to the job? Viewed purely from the wreckage in the south of the country of the past few days, the answer is clearly ‘No’. + Urban flooding becomes a priority for Switzerland The popular tourist town of Zermatt was cut off by flooding, while heavy rains caused a landslide in the Misox valley, in Graubünden, leaving at least one person dead and destroying part of a highway. The operations of six ...
