Heavy storms cause damage in Switzerland's Ticino as more to come
The heatwave came to an abrupt end on Friday evening in the south of the Swiss alps with a particularly violent storm causing significant damage in the canton of Tessin.
The situation was particularly bad in the district of Locarno.
As well as heavy rain, the storm brought golf ball-sized hailstones, which were responsible for damaging the roofs of hotels, houses, cars and a bus, allowing the water to rush in.
In der Region #Locarno am Freitagabend grosskörnigen #Hagel. Im #Tessin und auch in der #Surselva kamen mit den starken #Gewitter|n lokal auch schon grössere Regenmengen zusammen. #obacht: Es kommt noch viel Regen dazu! ^ds pic.twitter.com/S4F0xSaz93
— SRF Meteo (@srfmeteo) August 26, 2023
"When I look out of the window, I can't see a single car that isn't damaged," one Locarno resident whose roof apartment had flooded told news site 20 Minuten.
According to SRF Meteo, 48 millimetres of rain fell in just 50 minutes in Mosogno, part of Ticino's Locarno district.
"We saw rivers of hail and water flowing along the edges of the houses, it looked like snow," Sonja Frey, owner of the Hotel Garni Tiziana in Losone told local news website Tio.ch.
"The storm was so strong that water entered the roof of the top floor. The floors, some rooms and corridors were flooded," she said.
Several people also sustained mild injuries from the hail, but no-one needed hospital treatment, Tio.ch said.
The worry for many is that heavy rain is forecast for the next few days, with Meteo Suisse predicting up to 160mm of rain between Saturday lunchtime and Tuesday afternoon.
There are level three or four (the highest is five) rain warnings in place for the east of Switzerland, from Zurich in the north to Ticino in the south.
Comments
See Also
The situation was particularly bad in the district of Locarno.
As well as heavy rain, the storm brought golf ball-sized hailstones, which were responsible for damaging the roofs of hotels, houses, cars and a bus, allowing the water to rush in.
In der Region #Locarno am Freitagabend grosskörnigen #Hagel. Im #Tessin und auch in der #Surselva kamen mit den starken #Gewitter|n lokal auch schon grössere Regenmengen zusammen. #obacht: Es kommt noch viel Regen dazu! ^ds pic.twitter.com/S4F0xSaz93
— SRF Meteo (@srfmeteo) August 26, 2023
"When I look out of the window, I can't see a single car that isn't damaged," one Locarno resident whose roof apartment had flooded told news site 20 Minuten.
According to SRF Meteo, 48 millimetres of rain fell in just 50 minutes in Mosogno, part of Ticino's Locarno district.
"We saw rivers of hail and water flowing along the edges of the houses, it looked like snow," Sonja Frey, owner of the Hotel Garni Tiziana in Losone told local news website Tio.ch.
"The storm was so strong that water entered the roof of the top floor. The floors, some rooms and corridors were flooded," she said.
Several people also sustained mild injuries from the hail, but no-one needed hospital treatment, Tio.ch said.
The worry for many is that heavy rain is forecast for the next few days, with Meteo Suisse predicting up to 160mm of rain between Saturday lunchtime and Tuesday afternoon.
There are level three or four (the highest is five) rain warnings in place for the east of Switzerland, from Zurich in the north to Ticino in the south.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.