Natural hazard A debris avalanche threatens to slide above Brienz GR

Above the Grisons mountain village of Brienz, a debris avalanche is threatening to slide down as a so-called debris flow. Although parts of this avalanche could reach the meadowland on the edge of the village, the village is not under threat, wrote the municipality of Albula on X.

The heavy rainfall of the last few days has caused the landslide to accelerate. The masses of debris are currently moving downhill at a rate of 10 centimetres per day, as Christian Gartmann, communications officer for the municipality of Albula, told the Keystone-SDA news agency on Friday.

The material at risk of falling is material that has already fallen from the debris flow in June 2023. It is located in the debris cone of the so-called island, from which 1.2 million cubic meters of rock came loose last year.

Gartmann went on to say that if this debris cone were to slide down, it would be like a wet snow avalanche. However, experts had classified the impending flow of debris as reaching the meadowland above the village at most. An exclusion zone is still in place there. This does not need to be extended.

SDA