Title: Death In The Alps
Headings: Death In The Alps
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Death In The Alps
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Content: By the time the ordeal was over, the death toll from the disaster in Galtor had risen to 31 people. Sadly, this season's Alpine fatalities did not begin, nor are they likely to end, with the avalanche in Galtor. Since January, record snowfalls along Europe's mountainous spine have triggered a series of horrific avalanches, from the Alpes-Maritimes to the Carpathians. The average annual death rate from avalanches in Austria since 1992 has been about 25. Already, at least 40 people have died there this season. In France, five people were killed in a series of avalanches beginning on Jan. 12 in Chamonix. On Feb. 21, nine people were killed and another disappeared under a wall of snow in the Swiss town of Evolene, near the resort of Sion, which is bidding for the 2006 Winter Olympics. Two days later an avalanche hit the village of Valzur, just down the valley from Galtor, killing seven. In Switzerland alone, more than 100,000 tourists were stranded, many at high-end resorts like Zermatt and Davos. Even if the snow lets up, as it did last weekend, the runoff is likely to produce major flooding in the European lowlands over the next month.