Storms 2022 - Minor damage, no fatalities
Floods, debris flows, landslides and rock falls caused damage of around CHF 45 million in 2022 - ten times less than in 2021. There were no fatalities. This is the result of the annual evaluation of the Swiss flood and landslide damage database by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL).
In the 51-year observation series, the year 2022 ranks among the ten years with the least damage. At CHF 45 million, the damage costs in 2022 are around ten times lower than in 2021. The largest share of the estimated damage costs (around 91 %) was caused by floods, followed by rockfalls and rockslides (4 %), landslides (3 %) and debris flows (2 %). The causes were mainly thunderstorms and heavy precipitation, whereas one tenth of the damage was caused by continuous rain.
Among other things, the long dry phases in 2022 and the absence of major events are responsible for the low cost of damage throughout Switzerland. Nevertheless, major damage occurred locally, for example in Schangnau BE, Zell ZH and Manno TI due to flooding after thunderstorms.
Read more in the WSL press release