Flights in and out of Geneva have been heavily disrupted, after heavy rainfall managed to flood the air traffic control system of the Swiss airport. Elsewhere, the poor weather has led to what has been described by the media as the “flood of the century” in Morges (Vaud) and Liestal (Basel-Land).
On June 25, heavy rain and thunderstorms swept across Switzerland, adding to the rainfall which had already caused fatal landslides in the mountains over the weekend. In Morges, Canton Vaud, the city centre and streets were flooded with water, after the neighbouring river burst its banks at 6pm.
Roads, car parks and underground passageways in the town were flooded by the torrent. "I have never experienced anything like this in the more than 20 years that I have lived here," a local resident told RTS. The towns of Penthalaz and St-Croix have also been affected by flooding, with emergency workers in Vaud having to be called out 200 times overnight to deal with incidents across the canton.
According to Alertswiss, the storm has also meant that landline services are down in nine different municipalities in Vaud. These are Pampigny, Sévery, Clarmont, Apples, Yens, Cottens, Reverolle, Villars sous Yens and Bussy Chardonay. However, the mobile network remains operational.
In Basel-Land, the emergency services noted that the police and fire brigade were called out 30 times to the town of Liestal on Tuesday night, mainly to deal with flooded cellars. Elsewhere, a high-danger flood warning remains in place on Lake Constance (Obersee and Untersee) and the Rhine River between the lake and where the river meets the Thur, and a partial power outage has been reported in Stein am Rhein.
The storm has also had a major impact on flights to and from Geneva Airport. At 10pm on June 25, air traffic control company Skyguide closed the airspace around the airport. They explained that water had flooded the basement of the control centre, affecting the data centre's cooling system. As a result, no flights could take off or land between 10pm on June 25 and 12.30am on June 26, leading to 52 cancelled or diverted services.
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Skyguide confirmed that operations have been resumed at Geneva Airport, but only at 50 percent capacity. As a result, many flights are still expected to be delayed and cancelled on Wednesday - 14 have been cancelled so far. As of 10am, capacity has been increased to 70 percent.
All those due to fly to or from Geneva are encouraged to check the status of their flight before heading to the airport. Skyguide confirmed that the restrictions will remain in place “until further notice.”
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