Post by Andrei Tchentchik on Aug 12, 2020 15:30:18 GMT 2
(.#A.099).- Mont Blanc glacier on the verge of collapse in Italy 8/7/2020.
Mont Blanc glacier on the verge of collapse in Italy 8/7/2020.
PHOTO MARCO BERTORELLO, FRANCE-PRESS AGENCY
An estimated volume of ice of 500,000 cubic meters would be on the verge of detaching from the Planpincieux glacier, on the territory of the municipality of Courmayeur, indicates an ordinance of this municipality in the Valle d'Aosta region located near the border with France.
(Courmayeur) “Nobody passes! ": On the Italian side of the Mont-Blanc massif, access to the Val Ferret valley remains prohibited, because under the threat of the collapse of a glacier, a disaster scenario that leaves the local mountain dwellers rather skeptical.
Posted on August 6, 2020 at 9:55 am Updated on August 7, 2020
HERVÉ BAR
FRANCE MEDIA AGENCY
An automatic barrier and two security guards block the small asphalt road winding through the hollow of the green valley, at the foot of the Grandes Jorasses and the Planpincieux glacier.
Like a huge serac, an estimated volume of ice of 500,000 cubic meters - the "size of Milan Cathedral" - threatens to collapse, according to local authorities, who ordered the evacuation for 72 hours on Wednesday evening. 'a "red zone" below.
In Valle d'Aosta, the small valley of Val Ferret, which in this summer period is the joy of tourists and mountain lovers, is close to the famous resort of Courmayeur and the entrance to the Mont-Blanc tunnel, vital axis between France and Italy.
The affected area is nevertheless located at least four kilometers from the entrance to the tunnel, and even more from Courmayeur, where the situation was perfectly normal on Friday, with its clusters of tourists strolling through the sunny streets.
Giant polystyrene block
In total, only 75 people were evacuated, around 20 residents and the rest of vacationers. The evacuation was "urgent and imperative", justified the mayor of Courmayeur Stefano Miserocchi, while a rise in temperature is expected over the next two days, after a cold snap at the end of July.
A latest "warning bulletin" released on Friday confirmed that "abnormal temperature trends" persist, with "abnormal variations in water runoff". The Municipality of Courmayeur has therefore maintained "all the preventive measures of Civil Protection" announced Wednesday evening, that is to say the evacuation of about thirty houses as the closure of access to the valley.
"This situation is particularly delicate, because it disrupts the level of the water between the ice and the rock, and therefore the stability of the glacier", explained to AFP Valerio Segor, director of natural risk management for the Val. from Aosta.
"The problem is that the water does not drain enough and remains like a bubble under the glacier, risking to lift it" and precipitate the fall of its most fragile part.
A large fault was indeed visible on the lower part of the Planpincieux, from which flowed two cascades of water towards the valley, we observed during a helicopter flight over the majestic glacier, hanging on the wall. like a gigantic block of grayish polystyrene torn by crevices.
In Courmayeur, as in the small neighboring locality of La Palud, leading to Val Ferret, the "urgent" evacuation has surprised, arousing criticism from residents and tourism professionals, worried about the impact on their activity.
In this typically Alpine hamlet, wooden chalets with balconies flowered with geraniums intermingle in bucolic green with slate-roofed huts, between restaurants displaying their "mountain menu" and hotel-inns.
“I looked where the glacier was, where the danger was. The center of Courmayeur is not at all concerned, so we continued to visit, "said Loïc Hamelin, a French tourist who came for the day with his family.
"Psychosis"
Backpack, boots on their feet and nose to the wind, walkers and mountain apprentices meet almost everywhere in the streets and at the start of the trails. The specter of a collapse of part of the Planpincieux elicits little concern.
"This is a joke," grimaces Rocco, owner of a hotel in La Palud. “Every year, they (the local authorities) do the same thing to us again”. "After the COVID-19 epidemic, it is yet another disaster for tourism," he squeaks. “Since yesterday we've been receiving calls from worried customers asking if they should cancel their reservation. So there is absolutely no problem! "
“We live in the mountains, so there is always a risk. But in this case, it is very very very low ”, judges another hotelier in the area, Ludovico Colombati, owner of“ Chalet Svizzero ”.
Salt and pepper hair, this fifty-year-old mountain dweller, whose family has been for “four generations in the valley”, knows what he is talking about. His house, which he had to evacuate, is "the closest to the glacier," just under two kilometers away.
Local figure, Ludovico, who expresses himself perfectly in French like many here, "regrets" this evacuation order trumpeted without warning. "With climate change, the hot summer, the glacier moves, blocks are detached, it's normal," he said, criticizing the "psychosis" of these administrations "who cover themselves for fear of having to assume the slightest responsibility ”.
“Several times a day from my chalet, my ears can hear the glacier breaking out. […] This is life in the mountains, especially when you live at the foot of a rock face, "he concludes, philosopher, promising" that the day after tomorrow, it will be all open "at Val Ferret.
F I N .
Mont Blanc glacier on the verge of collapse in Italy 8/7/2020.
PHOTO MARCO BERTORELLO, FRANCE-PRESS AGENCY
An estimated volume of ice of 500,000 cubic meters would be on the verge of detaching from the Planpincieux glacier, on the territory of the municipality of Courmayeur, indicates an ordinance of this municipality in the Valle d'Aosta region located near the border with France.
(Courmayeur) “Nobody passes! ": On the Italian side of the Mont-Blanc massif, access to the Val Ferret valley remains prohibited, because under the threat of the collapse of a glacier, a disaster scenario that leaves the local mountain dwellers rather skeptical.
Posted on August 6, 2020 at 9:55 am Updated on August 7, 2020
HERVÉ BAR
FRANCE MEDIA AGENCY
An automatic barrier and two security guards block the small asphalt road winding through the hollow of the green valley, at the foot of the Grandes Jorasses and the Planpincieux glacier.
Like a huge serac, an estimated volume of ice of 500,000 cubic meters - the "size of Milan Cathedral" - threatens to collapse, according to local authorities, who ordered the evacuation for 72 hours on Wednesday evening. 'a "red zone" below.
In Valle d'Aosta, the small valley of Val Ferret, which in this summer period is the joy of tourists and mountain lovers, is close to the famous resort of Courmayeur and the entrance to the Mont-Blanc tunnel, vital axis between France and Italy.
The affected area is nevertheless located at least four kilometers from the entrance to the tunnel, and even more from Courmayeur, where the situation was perfectly normal on Friday, with its clusters of tourists strolling through the sunny streets.
Giant polystyrene block
In total, only 75 people were evacuated, around 20 residents and the rest of vacationers. The evacuation was "urgent and imperative", justified the mayor of Courmayeur Stefano Miserocchi, while a rise in temperature is expected over the next two days, after a cold snap at the end of July.
A latest "warning bulletin" released on Friday confirmed that "abnormal temperature trends" persist, with "abnormal variations in water runoff". The Municipality of Courmayeur has therefore maintained "all the preventive measures of Civil Protection" announced Wednesday evening, that is to say the evacuation of about thirty houses as the closure of access to the valley.
"This situation is particularly delicate, because it disrupts the level of the water between the ice and the rock, and therefore the stability of the glacier", explained to AFP Valerio Segor, director of natural risk management for the Val. from Aosta.
"The problem is that the water does not drain enough and remains like a bubble under the glacier, risking to lift it" and precipitate the fall of its most fragile part.
A large fault was indeed visible on the lower part of the Planpincieux, from which flowed two cascades of water towards the valley, we observed during a helicopter flight over the majestic glacier, hanging on the wall. like a gigantic block of grayish polystyrene torn by crevices.
In Courmayeur, as in the small neighboring locality of La Palud, leading to Val Ferret, the "urgent" evacuation has surprised, arousing criticism from residents and tourism professionals, worried about the impact on their activity.
In this typically Alpine hamlet, wooden chalets with balconies flowered with geraniums intermingle in bucolic green with slate-roofed huts, between restaurants displaying their "mountain menu" and hotel-inns.
“I looked where the glacier was, where the danger was. The center of Courmayeur is not at all concerned, so we continued to visit, "said Loïc Hamelin, a French tourist who came for the day with his family.
"Psychosis"
Backpack, boots on their feet and nose to the wind, walkers and mountain apprentices meet almost everywhere in the streets and at the start of the trails. The specter of a collapse of part of the Planpincieux elicits little concern.
"This is a joke," grimaces Rocco, owner of a hotel in La Palud. “Every year, they (the local authorities) do the same thing to us again”. "After the COVID-19 epidemic, it is yet another disaster for tourism," he squeaks. “Since yesterday we've been receiving calls from worried customers asking if they should cancel their reservation. So there is absolutely no problem! "
“We live in the mountains, so there is always a risk. But in this case, it is very very very low ”, judges another hotelier in the area, Ludovico Colombati, owner of“ Chalet Svizzero ”.
Salt and pepper hair, this fifty-year-old mountain dweller, whose family has been for “four generations in the valley”, knows what he is talking about. His house, which he had to evacuate, is "the closest to the glacier," just under two kilometers away.
Local figure, Ludovico, who expresses himself perfectly in French like many here, "regrets" this evacuation order trumpeted without warning. "With climate change, the hot summer, the glacier moves, blocks are detached, it's normal," he said, criticizing the "psychosis" of these administrations "who cover themselves for fear of having to assume the slightest responsibility ”.
“Several times a day from my chalet, my ears can hear the glacier breaking out. […] This is life in the mountains, especially when you live at the foot of a rock face, "he concludes, philosopher, promising" that the day after tomorrow, it will be all open "at Val Ferret.
F I N .
