The Blons avalanches took place in Austria in January 1954. They occurred in the federal state of Vorarlberg, where they had a big impact on the Great Walser Valley region and specifically, the village of Blons. The avalanches occurred over a two-day period beginning from 11 January 1954 and resulted in the death of 125 people, 57 of whom were killed specifically in Blons. Two big avalanches struck Blons within 9 hours, the second of which buried rescue workers who were attempting to save civilians from the first avalanche. The avalanches caused much destruction to the Blons village, damaging one third of housing infrastructure and killing one third of the population. The Blons avalanches are considered to be one of the worst mass burials in Austrian history, resulting in one of the highest number of fatalities due to an avalanche.
Geography
The village of Blons is located in the Bludenz district in the federal state of Vorarlberg, located on the western side of Austria. On its western side, the state of Vorarlberg borders with the European country Liechtenstein. Bludenz is a mountainous region with 525 mountains. In Vorarlberg there are 1315 avalanche catchment zones. The starting points of the Blons avalanches were Falvkopf and Mont-Calv. These peaks are situated approximately 6,500 ft high and surround the village. Falvkopf is 1849 meters above sea level. The coordinates of the Blons avalanche locations are Latitude: 47.2160 Longitude: 9.8160. The area of Blons is surrounded by rocks which are easily susceptible to erosion.
The avalanches
On 11 January 1954 at 9:36am, the first avalanche began, starting at Flavkopf, where it struck the Blons village at 10:00am. The first avalanche struck the eastern side of the village, burying 82 people and killing 34 people. A second avalanche began later that night at 7:00pm starting at Mont-Calv. The second avalanche struck the centre of the village of Blons where 43 people were buried and 22 people died. Sixteen people who were rescued from the first avalanche were also later buried in the second avalanche. Both avalanches were classified as catastrophic. An avalanche classified at a catastrophic level means it has the potential to damage the surrounding landscape, the runout can cause damage and destruction to infrastructure in a valley and is large in size. On the morning the avalanche occurred, the local radio announced the avalanche warning system cautioned "the danger of avalanches has become extremely serious and is still increasing." A survivor, Robert Dobner, recounts the day as "a dark Monday, so full of snow."
Rescue mission
The rescue response to the Blons avalanches was slow due to damaged power and telephone lines, which delayed rescuers hearing the news of the avalanches a day later. The rescue mission to save victims trapped from these avalanches led to the first airlift in Austrian history. Airlifts can quickly provide equipment and resources needed for a rescue mission site including transceivers, shovels and probes. Rescue dogs can also be used as they use their sense of smell to search for humans. The first Austrian responders started a rescue mission on 13 January 1954 and countries such as Germany, Switzerland and the United States also contributed to help rescue the civilians. The US Air Force provided 99 helicopters and 11,000 kg of rescue supplies while The Swiss Air-Rescue sent 14 rescuers, 6 rescue dogs, 2 helicopters, doctors and 5 rescue paratroopers. One of the main causes of death for victims impacted and trapped from an avalanche is asphyxia, which means people can still be alive while buried for a period of time and have the potential to survive. Some survivors of the Blons avalanches had been trapped for up to 17 to 62 hours. A Sydney Morning Herald article that reported on the Blons avalanches described the rescue crews as having to face a deep and narrow valley covered on both sides by tons of snow and that every capable man contribution to help. It also recounts that flares were used to help the rescue workers as the avalanches damaged lights as well as cutting off water supply and roads and rail communication.