Chamonix Flood Alert
Persistent heavy rain caused the rupture of two glacier water pockets yesterday which put Chamonix on a state of flood alert as the river Arve approached its tipping point.
The rain started in the early hours of Wednesday morning and continued on into the day, causing two water pockets to spill and dangerously increase the level of the river.
At 10.00 a water pocket under the Nant-Blanc collapsed, then only an hour later another water pocket under the Dru ruptured.
Faced with an alarming rise in the level of water, a team was called out to take preventative measures throughout Chamonix.
Down the Rue des Moulins, where the banks are very low, panelling was put up along each side of the river and the whole area was cordoned off.
A number of campsites situated along the river Arve were put on alert and sandbags were positioned to deter a possible flood.
The memory of the disastrous flood of July 1996 was fresh in the mind of locals when a similar pocket of water burst, flooding the centre of the town.
The flood risk is well-known and preventative measures are regularly taken - last summer 27,000 cubic metres of gravel were dug out from the river bed. But evidently this action was not sufficient, the combination of the high 0 ° C isotherm and the heavy rain caused a huge amount of water to come down the river yesterday.
Elsewhere the rainfall also caused minor disruption to the schedule of the climbing world cup but fortunately stopped in time for the finals and the fireworks!
