A rock avalanche fell on Lake Garda for the second time within a month. The riverside road was buried.
Limone sul Garda – Lake Garda in northern Italy is one of the most popular travel destinations for holidaymakers from Germany or Austria. In addition to the subtropical vegetation, the steep rock faces above the water provide an impressive landscape experience.
Rock walls threaten Italy's largest lake
It is precisely these rock faces that are becoming more and more dangerous for holidaymakers and locals. As in the rest of the Alpine region, violent rockfalls occur. Experts see a connection with climate change.
In Limone sul Garda, a landslide occurred on the northwest bank on the border of the provinces of Lombardy and Trentino, which led to the closure of the road in both directions. On Thursday evening (December 4th), shortly before 11 p.m., around 50 tons of rock came loose from the rock walls above the Gardasana riverside road on the northern edge of the idyllic tourist town of Limone.
By a lucky coincidence, no car was driving through the spot at that moment. The road was buried by the 30 cubic meters of boulders. One of the blocks rolled into the entrance to the four-star Splendid Palace Hotel, which is located directly on the lakeshore between Uferstrasse and an old lime plantation.
The hotel is currently taking a winter break, so there were no guests on site. Luckily there were no injuries.
The most important riverside road was buried
The road had to be closed in both directions. However, there is no alternative route between Riva and Limone. All that was left was the 80-kilometer detour to the ferry between Torri del Benaco and Maderno.
Firefighters from the region, technicians from the road maintenance department, traffic police and carabinieri and the mayor of Limone Antonio Martinelli were on site. Civil defense employees were busy clearing the road and securing other boulders on the slope until Friday. Disabilities still occur.
Heavy rains washed stones out of the rock faces
It had rained heavily in the region in the past few months and the stones were probably washed out. Only in mid-December there was a violent rock fall a few kilometers further south near Gargnano. Since then, discussions have arisen about the further construction of the Lake Garda cycle path, which is to be screwed into the rock walls on stilts.
The environmental protection committee Gaia di Gavardo told the Corriere de la Sera on the rockslide near Limone: “An almost tragedy occurred this evening. How much longer must we tolerate the will of bureaucrats and politicians who want to tempt fate by continuing to think only that nature must bend to our arrogant will?”
For months now, gigantic mountain and rock falls have been causing a stir in the Alps. Experts see a connection with climate change, which is causing extreme rainfall and causing the peaks to thaw at the highest altitudes.
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