Moderate property damage, but fatalities

Material damage was lower than in the previous year (125 million Swiss francs), according to the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL). Most of the damage was caused by floods (90 million Swiss francs), mostly triggered by local thunderstorm precipitation. This shows the current evaluation of the WSL storm damage database.

As hard as the flooding and landslide events were for individual regions, villages and families, nationally, for the seventh year in a row, severe weather in 2014 caused significantly less damage than the inflation-adjusted average for the years 1972 to 2013, which is 324 million Swiss francs. Over 80% of the damage, with focal points in the Emmental and Rhine valleys, occurred in rainy July in 2014. Schangnau BE was severely affected by the thunderstorm precipitation when the Emme and its tributaries flooded on July 24. This triggered damage amounting to around 16 million Swiss francs. The Emme's water masses rolled at times right through the Bumbach district, where they flooded houses and the gymnasium, damaged machinery and cars, and destroyed water pipes. In addition, stables, farmhouses and agricultural land were affected and landslides were triggered.

The second highest local damage, amounting to around 10 to 15 million Swiss francs, occurred in Altstätten SG as a result of the thunderstorm precipitation on July 28. Due to a lot of debris and wood in the channel, the town stream overflowed and flooded houses and streets. The fire department pumped out cellars and removed debris and mud from streets and squares. In Berneck SG, too, the damage was high, according to reports. The Littenbach washed up a lot of debris and tree trunks, flooded streets and penetrated private and commercial buildings.