Thunderstorms and heavy rain have caused flooding in Switzerland near Basel, in Geneva, and in the canton of Vaud on Lake Geneva, authorities reported.
On Tuesday evening, police in the canton south of Basel received several hundred reports of flooded basements, power outages and other water damage. By Wednesday, the situation had calmed down.
In the western canton of Vaud, the fire department was called out more than 200 times. In the town of Moges, the river reached flood levels that statistically are not expected even once in a hundred years, according to the police. No injuries were reported.
In Geneva, severe thunderstorms and heavy rain led to a two-hour suspension of flight operations.
A cooling room for servers in the Skyguide air traffic control building was affected by flooding. To prevent overheating of the control systems, the airspace was closed shortly after 10 pm. Around 50 arrivals and departures were cancelled.
Overnight camp beds and food were provided for around 100 passengers. On Wedn
esday, departures were cancelled for planes that had not been able to land on Tuesday evening. However, no major damage occurred, and operations were back to normal, said a Geneva airport spokesman.
Last week, a landslide after heavy rainfall swept away three houses in the eastern canton of Graubnden and destroyed part of the A13 motorway, an important route through the Alps.
Of four missing people, one woman was rescued and a man found dead. The other two individuals remain missing.
Source: Ghana News Agency