Hail protection system: 135 buildings already equipped
In a few weeks, the risk of hail will increase again. In order to protect the blinds from hail damage, the cantonal building insurers launched an automated blind control system in 2016. The first results are now available.
According to the Association of Cantonal Fire Insurers (VKF) last year, 135 buildings were awarded the newly developed system "Hail protection - simply automatic". In the event of an acute risk of hail, SRF Meteo sends a signal to the buildings equipped with it. The blinds are raised automatically and are thus protected from damage. As soon as the hailstorm has passed, a second signal ensures that the blinds move back into the predefined position.
2016: 44 hail days
The summer of 2016 brought an average hail activity of 44 hail days in Switzerland. The intensity of the hailstorms was below average, with no particularly severe events with large hailstones, writes the VKF. Based on the long-term hail statistics, Switzerland can be divided into three hail zones: the central and southern Ticino, the central and eastern Pre-Alps and the Jura. The inner Alpine valleys are rarely affected by hail. Thanks to "Hail protection - simply automatic", the first damage to slat blinds and other sun protection elements was prevented in 2016.The hit rate of the hail early warning system was a high 96%, as the VKF emphasizes.
The upcoming hail season lasts from about the beginning of May to the end of September. The hail prewarning system geared to this period is being optimized on an ongoing basis. As of spring 2017, it will be possible to correctly predict hail cells with very low zero degrees. Although such events are very rare, they could cause particularly severe hailstorms, the VKF press release states.
