Three months after the serious floods which hit the upper Val Maggia in Ticino, the challenges remain immense despite the ongoing reconstruction work. Reporting.
The severe weather which occurred during the night of June 29 to 30 in Val Maggia caused eight deaths and between 30 and 50 million francs in damage, according to an estimate.
Today, a victim has still not been found.
>> Reread: A new lifeless body found in Val Maggia
Everywhere in the valley, we are working before winter to deal with the most pressing needs: securing the banks with mechanical excavators, rehabilitating the roads and the drinking water network.
Back to school with difficult memories
In the badly hit village of Prato-Sornico, school resumed at the end of August. But the students are not about to forget their start to summer 2024.
“I’m fine. I’m only a little afraid when it rains… that it might happen again,” said one of them.
As for the ice rink which was right behind the school, it was completely destroyed.
“We have nothing left. It was really the sports center of the entire municipality, but especially of the entire Maggia valley”, indicates Gabriele Dazio, trustee of the municipality of Lavizzara (TI).
Getting up, the only solution
But the town is not giving up. This winter, she wants to install a small temporary ice rink in the same location, then, ultimately, rebuild the sports center identically.
“We must raise our heads and look forward, with strength and determination. And with the intention of rebuilding this center of ours to offer our young people something new,” explains the trustee.
To rebuild its infrastructure, the small town of 500 inhabitants has launched an appeal for donations, because the money from the Canton and the Confederation will not be enough.
Farm to rebuild
Beyond the reconstruction of Val Maggia, the question of relocation sometimes arises. This is what a couple of farmers from Val Bavona (TI) — a side valley of Val Maggia — face. During the bad weather last June, a gigantic landslide ravaged their farm: a barn and green pastures. Today, they must find a new place to operate.
“Everything has moved 50 to 60 meters lower,” explains farmer Raffaele Speziale, who shows what remains of his barn at the foot of the landslide. It’s just “a bit of sheet metal and wood.”
Luckily, this couple’s cows were already on the mountain pasture the night of the landslide, and therefore escaped unscathed.
Need to relocate
The couple has already organized a fundraiser for the new operation. But it is not certain that the canton of Ticino will authorize reconstruction in Val Bavona, because the map of natural dangers is being updated.
Leave his valley? A difficult decision for Raffaele. “We take care of the land, here, throughout Val Bavona. Building a stable outside, if necessary we will do it, but it would be good to avoid it.”
Despite submerged agricultural land and “rustico” in tatters, the inhabitants of Val Maggia are hanging on. Although the return to normal will take years, their life is here, in these deep valleys of Ticino.
>> To learn more about destructive weather in Switzerland, read: Climate change is making rains more intense in Switzerland, study finds
TV subject: Julien Guillaume
Adaptation web: juma
