Thousands of people were isolated on March 3 after an avalanche ripped through Italy’s Aosta Valley and covered a tunnel. The tunnel is a major roadway near the town of Gressoney-Saint-Jean, effectively leaving two municipalities completely cut off from the rest of the region.
An avalanche obstructed a tunnel near the town of Gressoney-Saint-Jean, Aosta Valley, Italy 🇮🇹
| 3 March 2024 |#avalanche #Italy pic.twitter.com/bfjKN5hXnt— DISASTER TRACKER (@DisasterTrackHQ) March 3, 2024
Meanwhile, the same storm was dumping as much as 48 inches of fresh snow. That forced the hands of the mayors of Aymavilles, Cogne, Gressoney-Saint-Jean, and Valsavarenche, who called for the closures of several roads in the region and effectively left as many as 6,000 locals and tourists stranded for two days during the storm.
The mayor of Cogne, Franco Allera, said there were as many as 500 tourists and approximately 1,400 local residents impacted by the closures in his town alone. However, with access to accommodations, electricity, and food throughout the ordeal, the towns were deemed self-sufficient. In fact, one of the mayors made a point to assure media that they were used to events like this. A 2019 storm triggered avalanche warnings when snow broke into buildings around a nearby resort and housing estate in the area.
“This is not the first such case; we are accustomed to it,” Alessandro Girod, Mayor of Gressoney-La-Trinité said. “When it snows heavily, we anticipate such situations; that’s the nature of this area.”
