Saint Gervais Evacuated After Glacier Alert
Flood risk alarm raised overnight, 700 evacuated
At 2:00am the Saint Gervais emergency siren sounded, causing a mass evacuation of the village with fears of flooding from the water pocket in the Tête Rousse glacier .
Despite the recent announcement that the pumping of the Tête Rousse glacier was not been required this summer to reduce the flood risk, the alert system triggered the alarm overnight and put Saint Gervais into a state of panic.
However by 4:30am the threat had been downgraded and the 700 residents were allowed to return to their homes.
A total of 95 firemen and 70 soldiers were called out to assist the public during the two and half hours of waiting at evacuation points. In the meantime police made their way to the glacier control point to establish the risk and later confirmed there was in fact no risk of collapse or an increase in the water level.
It is thought that the alarm was triggered by a lighting strike, during an overnight thunderstorm storm.
Update: The malfunction is said to have cost a total of €72,000, the commune hope to share the bill with the government.
