The small Alpine town of
Rhêmes-Notre-Dame in the northwestern Val d'Aosta was cut off on
Monday morning after an avalanche triggered by recent heavy
snowfall blocked the access road during the night.
"There are no reports of damage to people or property. The
avalanche occurred in the hamlet of Mélignon and the road has
been closed further down the valley, in the hamlet of
Frassiney," said Rhêmes-Saint-Georges Mayor Nella Therisod.
Technical experts are now assessing when the road can safely be
reopened for the roughly 80 residents and winter tourists stuck
in the town.
Elsewhere in the mountain region on the border with France,
around 4,500 people living in the upper Gressoney valley have
been isolated since Sunday after a mass of falling snow blocked
the entrance to a tunnel at Gaby, while in Cogne almost 2,000
people were cut off after the access road was closed as a
precautionary measure.
Meanwhile, in neighbouring Piemonte, heavy rains have reportedly
caused damage in the Alessandria area, where the hydrogeological
alert in some municipalities has been raised to red level.
Further south, falling temperatures have brought snowfall to
Mount Vesuvius near Naples in Campania and to the Gennargentu
massif in central Sardinia.
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