German hotel buried by huge avalanche as snows claim lives across Europe

RT
Mon, 14 Jan 2019 18:18 UTC

© AFP/Benjamin Liss

The Hotel Hubertus buried under tonnes of snow.

A hotel in southern Germany has been buried by an enormous avalanche, sparking an evacuation, as heavy snows cause deaths and disruption across Europe.

Hotel Hubertus reportedly sustained damage after the wall of snow battered the building in the village of Balderschwang, close to the Austrian border, on Monday.

The hotel was evacuated and 100 guests were taken to other buildings in the area. Nobody suffered any injuries in the incident, Süddeutsche Zeitung reports.

More than 1,100 people are now stranded in Balderschwang because several days of intense snowfall has left the roads in and out of the town at risk of being buried by an avalanche at any moment.

© AFP/ Karl-Josef Hildenbrand

A snow covered road is blocked due to avalanche danger in Obermaiselstein near Balderschwang.

The snowfall drama comes after another avalanche hit a hotel in Switzerland last Thursday. Three people sustained injuries when Hotel Santis in the Schwaegalp mountain pass was hit by a mass of quickly moving snow.

Authorities in Germany, Switzerland and Austria are warning that further snow and rainfall is raising the risk of avalanches even further, and is also increasing the weight on snow-laden roofs. The Swiss Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) raised the risk of avalanches to the highest level, level 5, for a vast swathe of the Alps.

© AFP

Heavy snows have now caused at least 26 deaths across Europe this year. On Sunday three German skiers were killed and a fourth remains missing, after they were hit by an avalanche in the Austrian Alps.

On Friday a snow plow operator in Germany died after his vehicle plunged into an icy river. Other fatalities have included people involved in road accidents in the dangerous driving condition, as well as people being hit by falling trees.

Comment: The cold that is sweeping across Europe is being blamed on the meandering jetstream that's bringing arctic air further south and generally disrupting the usual weather patterns. Each year this is occurring more often and bringing longer, more intense winters, meaning even those areas that are used to heavy snow are struggling to cope:

• Swiss town cut off by heavy snowfall
• Australia extreme heatwave: 'Code red' issued as Port Augusta hits 48.9C
• Greengrocers fear winter weather in Spanish and Italian growing areas
• Wild animals descend on villages in search of food in Kashmir because of heavy snowfall

And for an idea of why this is occurring, check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Earth changes in an electric universe: Is climate change really man-made?

More footage from Austria: