Keystone-SDA
Present in Haut-Valais from the landslide of May 28 in Blatten, the Swiss army was able to go into action last Friday. Since Monday, the work in charge of the army has been concentrated on the lake behind the dejection cone, on the east side of the village of Blatten.
(Keystone-ATS) “Twelve pontoon bells, members of the intervention battalion in the event of a disaster are on site,” the Reynald Droz division in Keystone-ATS said on Tuesday on a press point in Wiler.
At first, it will be a question of ridding the lake of roofs which float on the surface and other debris, including a certain amount of wood.
Work with boats
The second phase “will consist in sorting waste, stored on the banks of the lake, by material and size”, specifies the officer. “Phase 3, competence of the canton of Valais and the municipality will be that of the destruction of waste, according to a solution still to be determined. »»
A Keystone-ATS photographer was able to fly over part of the victim of the victim on Tuesday afternoon. He was able to attend the work of soldiers installed in two boats, picking up debris and then storing them in a floating dam. In a second step, these were sent to the bank, thanks to a mechanical shovel.
Be humble in front of the elements
“I was able to observe a very good collaboration between the army, civil protection and private companies,” said State Councilor Stéphane Ganzer. “For three weeks, the army had to wait to take action for security issues. This extremely frustrating period allowed us to remind us, that in mountains, it is nature that decides. »»
“Although we were unable to intervene in the field for three weeks, we worked daily with the town and the canton in order to plan the work to be done,” said Droz divisional. A time that has not proven to be vain.
