Emmental, Switzerland floods of July 2014

An intense thunderstorm caused severe flooding in Emmental and surrounding villages. But the damages would have been even bigger had the water level of the river Aare not been lowered to be able to take up the high discharge of the river Emme. Public infrastructure, especially roads and bridges, was severely damaged.Downstream losses could be reduced or avoided through effective communication among cantonal authorities and well-coordinated river flow regulation, which reduced the Aare’s flow from approximately 1,000 cubic meters per second (m3/s) to 755 m3/s, below levels that could cause damage. New flood protection measures put in place since 2005 proved effective. Read more about the terrible flooding in the report.