Avalanche in Italy's Aosta Valley strands 800 tourists, isolates towns

The region, situated in northwestern Italy, has been experiencing severe weather conditions in recent days. The situation reached a critical point on Sunday, March 3, when the avalanche blocked Regional Road 44, making passage through the tunnel impossible. Thankfully, there were no casualties as the tunnel was unoccupied at the time. However, the avalanche effectively severed all connections between the towns of Gressoney Saint Jean and Gressoney-La-Trinité and the rest of the world.

According to Mayor Francesco Valerio, the avalanche struck around 7 a.m. ET, immediately alarming witnesses who quickly alerted the authorities. Emergency services promptly responded to the scene, and fortunately, no injuries have been reported. Although the snowfall has ceased, intense rain was predicted for the night from Sunday to Monday, delaying road clearance efforts until Monday, March 4.

Regional Road No. 44 serves as the sole access point to the valley, home to 800 stranded tourists. The snow covering the road is currently estimated to be about 5 feet thick. Additionally, a weather alert has been issued for March 4, signaling the residents and authorities are no strangers to such calamities. Alessandro Girod, Mayor of Gressoney-La-Trinité, commented, "This is not the first such case; we are accustomed to it. When it snows heavily, we anticipate such situations; that's the nature of this area." A similar incident occurred back in 2019.

The recent heavy snowfall has elevated the avalanche risk to level four on a five-level scale in Piedmont, an area adjacent to the Aosta Valley.

In a separate event a few years ago, Sestriere, another town in northwestern Italy, experienced snow breaking into apartment buildings during the highest avalanche risk level throughout Piedmont. This incident involved snowdrifts entering the apartments of a well-known Alpine winter sports resort, which hosted the 2006 Olympic Games. Notably affected were the ground and first floors of the San Vittorio housing estate, leading to significant damage.