The Rhône and the lateral watercourses have begun to recede. But “increased vigilance is necessary”, indicates Saturday the Cantonal Control Body (OCC) of Valais which maintains the alarm level as well as the particular situation.
For the Rhône, “the peak of the flood was reached after midnight during the night from Friday to Saturday”, we add from the same source. For example, a flow rate of 819 m3 per second was reached at 2 a.m. in Branson. Although the river has started to recede, “the flow rates remain very high”.
Concerning the lateral watercourses, the decline is “relatively slow” and storms are still expected during the day, adds the OCC. Several overflows and debris flows took place along lateral watercourses, for example in the region of Zermatt, Val d’Anniviers or Evolène.
The OCC calls on the population to limit travel, not to approach waterways, not to park on bridges and not to sail on the Rhône and at the mouth of Lake Geneva. She also recommends refraining from filming or photographing events and strictly complying with the orders of the authorities.
No train to Zermatt
On the rail side, trains have no longer been running between Visp and Zermatt since Friday midday. This was still the case on Saturday around 11 a.m., indicates the Mattherhorn Gotthard Bahn on the social network X. The company will make the next update at 3 p.m.
Rail traffic was able to resume between Riddes and Ardon at 8 a.m. The Lausanne-Brigue line was notably interrupted on Friday evening: the level of the Rhône downstream of the Riddes railway bridge had reached a critical height.
Vigilance in Chablais Vaudois
In Chablais Vaudois, the most critical point linked to the flooding of the Rhône was also reached during the night from Friday to Saturday. Saturday morning, the situation was on the way to normalizing. However, vigilance remains essential. No material or human damage was reported.
The peak at the level of the Rhône was reached at the end of the evening with a flow rate which exceeded a thousand meters/cubic/second to reach almost 1200m3/s, Olivia Cutruzzola, head of the communications unit of the Rhône, told Keystone-ATS. Cantonal management staff of the canton of Vaud. The point of attention always remains the construction site area between the St-Triphon bridge and the Gryonne river, which enters the Rhône.
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