Current situation in Brienz
A summary of the current situation in Brienz where a rockfall is threatening. The authorities have ordered an evacuation and crisis management is being praised.
Threat and evacuation
The Grisons village of Brienz is threatened with destruction by a rockfall. Almost two million cubic meters of rock and debris are moving towards Brienz. On Tuesday evening, the authorities informed about the further procedure in Brienz and made the urgency clear: The village must be vacated by Friday evening.
Crisis management
The crisis management of the authorities is largely praised at the information event. After the evacuation of the village, Brienz may no longer be entered by outsiders. Checkpoints and video surveillance are intended to prevent looting.
The municipality of Albula/Alvra responsible for the village threatened by rockfall raised the alarm level on Tuesday. In addition, it was announced that the inhabitants of Brienz must have left their houses by Friday at the latest .
For many of them, the threat is now extremely palpable, as a woman from Brienz says on the sidelines of the information event: «We live just below the slide area. I was born and raised there. Basically, we are used to the slide. Now that we see the pictures and hear the geologists, we are getting scared again» .
Only a few days ago, experts were still assuming a longer time frame until a possible rockfall. The talk was of two to six weeks. But now everyone has to leave Brienz. They only have a few days to pack up what they need .
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