Precious cheese rescued from landslide-hit Graubünden valley
The Local - [email protected]
Published: 5 Sep, 2017 CET.
Updated: Tue 5 Sep 2017 10:13 CET
Local dairy farmers in the landslide-hit Val Bregaglia had a victory against the elements on Friday when they managed to rescue 1.2 tons of cheese from a storeroom just hours before the building filled up with mud and debris.
The rounds of Granito cheese – a local speciality – were worth around 40,000 francs and were being stored in a maturing room at a cheese dairy in the valley, said Blick.
The area was hit by huge landslide on August 23rd, resulting in the presumed deaths of eight hikers who haven’t been found and the evacuation of the village of Bondo.
A subsequent landslide on September 1st once again sent a wave of mud and debris into Bondo as well as the nearby villages of Promontogno, Spino and Sottoponte.
On Friday the Latteria Bregaglia cheese dairy was told that the store was under threat from further potential landslides due to heavy rainfall, reported Blick.
So a group of locals set out to rescue the cheese, which they managed to move to another store in Maloja, further down the valley.
Some two hours later another landslide hit the area, filling the building with mud and debris, said the paper.
Inhabitants of several villages remain evacuated as the clear-up operation attempts to deal with the huge amount of rock, mud and debris that swamped houses and cut off roads.
Last week the authorities said it could take years before the area has fully recovered.
On Monday residents of Bondo, Spino and Sottoponte were told they wouldn’t be able to return to their homes for at least two months, reported news agency ATS.
Protection measures must be implemented before they can return, since the region remains under threat of subsequent rockfalls from the Piz Cengalo mountain.
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The rounds of Granito cheese – a local speciality – were worth around 40,000 francs and were being stored in a maturing room at a cheese dairy in the valley, said Blick.
The area was hit by huge landslide on August 23rd, resulting in the presumed deaths of eight hikers who haven’t been found and the evacuation of the village of Bondo.
A subsequent landslide on September 1st once again sent a wave of mud and debris into Bondo as well as the nearby villages of Promontogno, Spino and Sottoponte.
On Friday the Latteria Bregaglia cheese dairy was told that the store was under threat from further potential landslides due to heavy rainfall, reported Blick.
So a group of locals set out to rescue the cheese, which they managed to move to another store in Maloja, further down the valley.
Some two hours later another landslide hit the area, filling the building with mud and debris, said the paper.
Inhabitants of several villages remain evacuated as the clear-up operation attempts to deal with the huge amount of rock, mud and debris that swamped houses and cut off roads.
Last week the authorities said it could take years before the area has fully recovered.
On Monday residents of Bondo, Spino and Sottoponte were told they wouldn’t be able to return to their homes for at least two months, reported news agency ATS.
Protection measures must be implemented before they can return, since the region remains under threat of subsequent rockfalls from the Piz Cengalo mountain.
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