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He will be back soon: the helicopter that dropped the man in bright orange a few minutes ago. Excited are two tot in the blazing sun. What a pleasure! You do not know what mischief makes it necessary to use the Heli-Linth Squirrel machine in Chueboden at Unterwasser SG.
Already for the third time, the marshaller in bright orange in the scorching heat attached a large tank of water to the transmission line. The helicopter takes another 800 liters up to the Alp on the Windenpass. There, the farmer ran out of water for his animals – without the help of the helicopter, they would have been lost in this drought.
For almost 100 years, there has never been so little rain in Switzerland between April and July. But it was not just long-lasting showers. Weather Switzerland also records the hottest April-July period since the start of the measurement. The drought is widespread all over Europe, even in the stronghold of Europe, it is too dry. It threatens a danger of major to very important forest fire. Many communities have closed the village wells, keeping their inhabitants to save water.
The Air Force intervenes as a water cooler
The rotor rattle announces the return of the helicopter. "Look, he brings the tank back!", The little boy rejoices. As soon as the empty tank has touched the ground, a full tank is already suspended on the transmission line. The time is short. Because just in high season helicopter companies that have been piling up for a week, farmers' demands for water transport and bring them back to their capacity limits. In addition, the great drought affects their flight paths: "We are only allowed to absorb water in very few places," says Patrick Rüesch, deputy general manager of Heli-Linth. "Instead of the next pond, we sometimes have to fly to Lake Walen or Lake Constance."
This results in higher costs for farmers, who pay around 40 francs per minute of flight. In difficult cases or when private companies are busy, the Luftwaffe intervenes – in five places it was already this year with water transport in service. For farmers, army flights are free. But they are the exception, because the military can not compete with private companies.
"Helicopters can voluntarily assign jobs to the army because the situation is precarious for farmers in the Alps, so we do not want to cause financial hardship," says Martin Candinas, president of the Association. Switzerland Helicopters. ] Video: Helicopter brings water
Heli-Linth helicopter brings water to livestock.
The helicopter flew twelve tanks this afternoon towards the alpine meadow. He returns one last time. "He has to get the man in bright orange," orders the tallest to the youngest and quickly wipes the sweat off his forehead. The boys bravely cling to their wheels, where the tailwind of the feather rotors. The dust swirls.
The dry land also travels tens of kilometers further south in the air. Regional Forest Engineer Matthias Kalberer and District Forester Mattiu Cathomen look into a hole near a GR near Tamins, which they beat in a meadow. A so-called soil profile. The experts analyze the dryness of the ground and deduce the risk of forest fire.
"When the fire goes off, it acts as a fire accelerator."
"With observations at various locations, we have recently completed the computational models that are available to us," says Kalberer. Because sometimes the water infiltrates faster than expected. He grabs the top layer of old grass and foliage. "Everything is completely dry." His face is serious. The forester next to him adds: "When the fire is caught, it acts as a fire accelerator."
But even the lower layers of the earth no longer contain water at this place. Kalberer squeaks a handful of fingers. "If there was still moisture, I could mold pearls and have dirty hands." Instead, the dry earth flies in the air. A second soil profile beats the forester in woodland. Usually, the scattering of needles and leaves stays wet longer as it is protected from the sun. "There's nothing left," Cathomen said curtly.
More fire water tanks on uneven ground
Back at the office, the two men present their observations to Andrea Kaltenbrunner.All information circulates together at Bündner Waldbrandkoordinator. He wants to fix the measures for the national holiday this Thursday afternoon: "So that people and communities can plan their celebrations." For this, it feeds the values of weather stations such as temperature, humidity, precipitation or wind. This takes into account the 52-day data and thus classifies the flammability of the wooden parts. This allows Kaltenbrunner to draw concrete conclusions on the risk of forest fire in the region.
Due to its calculations and feedback from the five forest regions, the canton of Graubünden has recently adopted a large-scale ban on the use of fire in and around the forest. In the southern valleys of Graubünden, as in the canton of Ticino and in Valais, an absolute ban on outdoor fires is in force. In the other Swiss-German cantons, fires in and around forests are prohibited.
Drought wreaks havoc
Experts are waiting for new droughts in the coming years. Over the next few years, other artificial ponds will be built where helicopters can hold water to fight fires. Two of them are supposed to better open the protective forests of the city of Chur.
Matthias Kalberer leaves his office on the Rhine bridge, looking towards the shore where the drought wreaks havoc: the birches have already shed their leaves. "It's usually only in October."
(SonntagsZeitung)
Date created: 28.07.2018, 21:14
Heat and drought affect all regions
A struggle for survival
Swiss Association of Fishermen expects a tragedy: if the Rhine temperature rises by two degrees, thousands of shadows belonging to a population of national importance will die. In the canton of Aargau, however, the fish is also in distress: on three occasions, sections of the course of water had to be fished. The responsible people are waiting for other missions. Lucerne has already fished a total of 15 kilometers of water courses. "The situation is worse than during the hot summer of 2003," says Philipp Amrein of the Department of Nature, Hunting and Fishing
Lack of food, no mushrooms
That's why farmers bring back animals. But in the plains, in many places, more grass grows. As a result, in some parts of the canton of St. Gallen, the first farmers have their cows lodged and fed them with winter food. "In some farms, one-third of the winter food is missing," says Andreas Widmer, managing director of the St. Gallen Farmers' Association. These farmers are forced to buy food for tens of thousands of francs, if available. "Otherwise, farmers have to slaughter more animals this year." Vintners are getting something out of the drought: vines suffer less fungal infestation than in the rainy years.
Less firefighters, more missions
Firefighters have already had to move into forest fires. "These are indications that this is becoming more and more dangerous," says Philipp Gerold of the Valais branch of the Wald. This is why some firefighters from Grison have provided water in slurry tanks in arid places. In Ticino, there are about 300 mountain firefighters on the road. Although firefighters can count on the help of their neighbors in case of bottlenecks, the high risk of wildfires during the holidays poses personal challenges to the militia corps. Especially since the number of firefighters has been down for ten years: from 113,715 to 85,164. Meanwhile, the missions went from 64,865 to 72,785
Böller communities banished
Migros and Coop cleared volcanoes, rockets and rocks in the shops of many stores, Lidl and Aldi in some places too. The reason are bans for fireworks. Almost all cantons have banned burning in and around forests, and traditional fires are also affected. In Valais, Ticino or Glarus, even the general prohibitions apply. In addition, many communities in their area completely prohibit fires, including Winterthur ZH, Wil SG and Baden AG. Other cities like Lucerne or Bern want to decide tomorrow. It is certain that the fireworks and the bonfire on the Gurten will cease to exist in the federal city.
Ships and Nuclear Power Plants Are Strangling
Many waters sink into historic lows. The Thur has as little water this month as in 1949, the same goes for Lake Zug and Lake Lucerne. The level of Greifensee has so recently sunk that ships could no longer dock anywhere. On the Bodensee, the distance between Diessenhofen and Stein am Rhein is not passable due to the low water level, starting tomorrow also from those of Rorschach to Altenrhein. Enough water takes the Aar, but at a critical temperature for different species of fish. Since Monday, the power of the Mühleberg nuclear power plant is now limited. While the Aare, with the water from which the reactor is cooled, does not heat up any further.
The Luftwaffe increases its availability
The Swiss Air Force responds to the precarious drought of the southern slopes of the Alps. She has increased her readiness because of the high danger of forest fire. "We pre-positioned a helicopter in Ticino," says Peter Bruns, colonel of the Air Force General Staff. This shortens the reaction time in case of emergency. Air force helicopters only support the firefighters when they make the request to the civil authorities. Last year they were used six times in Switzerland and three times abroad. In total, they dropped five million liters of water on the flames with their so-called Bambi buckets.
(pia / gpr)
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