ST-JULIEN-MONT-DENIS: Two people were still missing in Italy today after unusually heavy spring storm across the Alps dumped more than a metre of snow in some areas, shutting ski areas, halting transport and leaving at least one person dead.
The storm shut roads, halted trains and cut power to areas in France, Italy and Switzerland.
Although snow in April is not rare in the Alps mountain range, the amount that fell in just hours was unusual and took authorities and residents by surprise.
In Italy, a 92-year-old man was found dead by firefighters in his flooded home in the northern Piedmont region, the fire brigade said.
“Firefighters continue their search for two missing,” Italian firefighters wrote on X today.
“According to preliminary information, a father and son were swept away in their car near their home” in Vicenza.
“Intense and abundant” rain had lashed the north of Italy, turning to snow above 1,800m altitude, the Italian air force’s weather service said.
In the French resort of Val Thorens, a woman had a heart attack after being buried by an avalanche, authorities said.
And in Tignes, authorities ordered residents to stay indoors after more than 1.1m of snow fell overnight.
“All cars are covered up to the roof… Just walking outside is worrying,” said Mathis, a hotel employee in Tignes.
Avalanche risk was hiked to its maximum level in several regions, shutting down several ski areas.
The 36,000 people in the Swiss town of Sion were also told to stay home.
“In such a short time, this is an enormous amount (of snow),” said Yann Geaudry, a retired cross-country ski instructor in the French village of Termignon, who was worried about the risk of floods when the snow melts in the spring sunshine.
Many roads were shut in all three countries due to fallen trees or the risk of avalanches.
Heavy trucks were banned from using the main Mont Blanc tunnel between France and Italy and dozens that could not get through tunnels were stuck on the A43 highway linking Italy and France.
Trains were also affected, and at one point more than 3,300 French homes were without power, according to local authorities in the Savoie region.
“It’s truly exceptional,” said Didier Beauchet, a retiree who has lived in Lanslebourg in Savoie for 40 years.
“I must have seen that only five times,” he told AFP, as motorists around him worked to free their snow-covered cars.