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One man was killed, 7,000 people were evacuated, 10,000 police, defense, home defense and civil defense were called, and 1,833 farms reported injuries.
In total, damage of around NOK 1.8 billion occurred during the extreme flooding “Vesleofsen” in 1995.
At the time, there was 40 percent more snow in the mountains than normal. Also, spring came late. This caused great floods in Gudbrandsdalslågen, Glomma and Mjøsa. The devastation was enormous.
According to NVE, this year’s winter has been the snowiest in more than 60 years. Spring flood analyzes show that we must be prepared for this year’s spring flood to present challenges in large parts of the country.
WATER DESTROYS THE THIRD: Report of the Thirteen on June 2, 1995 when the Moksa River broke a new channel.
High risk of large spring floods.
Twenty-five years later, the risk of a new major spring flood is high. There hasn’t been as much snow in the mountains for many years, and the danger of flooding increases with cold weather.
According to the NVE daily forecast, the danger of a major spring flood is the highest in northern Norway. There, there is up to a 95 percent chance of flooding at the orange level, which can cause serious damage. In Trøndelag, there are several watercourses that have up to a 90 percent probability of major flooding.
At Gudbrandsdalslågen, there is now up to a 75 percent chance of a major spring flood. The same applies to the highest parts of other water courses such as Glomma, Trysilelva and Drammensvassdraget.
– This year’s winter has so far been the snowiest since 1958. Spring flood analyzes show that we must be prepared for this year’s spring flood to present challenges in large parts of the country, including the interior, says the regional head of the NVE East Region, Toril Hofshagen.
She says it is now the weather trend that will determine how big the flood will be this year.
– We will obtain the greatest flooding due to a combination of a lot of rain and heavy thawing due to the warmer climate, as happened in 1995.
But how good are we at a flood like “Vesleofsen” now?
As Glomma continued to increase, the old ring roads were closed due to water. Here in Kongsvinger the path turned into a river.
Photo: Bjørn Sigurdsøn / NTB Scanpix
Two young men used a canoe in what is generally a parking lot in Hamar. The flood turned it into a lake.
Photo: Morten Hval / NTB Scanpix
This farm in Heradsbygd in the municipality of Elverum was severely affected during the 1995 flood.
Photo: Jon Eeg / NTB scanpix
Soldiers build flood waters using sandbags at Strandgaten in Hamar during the 1995 flood.
Photo: Morten Hval / NTB Scanpix
At Evenstad Chapel in Greater Elvdal, the entire cemetery was submerged when Glomma flooded its banks in 1995.
Photo: PER LØCHEN / NTB Scanpix
– it was wild
Erik Jakobsen was a reporter at NRK Oppland in June 1995. He describes the days as one of the most dramatic he has experienced in his journalistic career of nearly 40 years. He especially remembers when the Moksa River swept through downtown Thirteen.
– It was wild. Harald (photographer for NRK Harald Gundersen, ed.) And I was standing along the edge of the river when houses, wood, dirt, and stones fell.
As the river washed over, Jakobsen spoke to the affected people. One of them was Asgeir Rognstad. He lost both his business and his home in the flood.
– Talking to people at the same time that houses and houses are going to hell is very special, says Jakobsen.
He became 1995: Asgeir Rognstad lost his home and the meat business he owned in the flood. The house is seen in the background.
Photo: Harald Gundersen / NRK
Asgeir Rognstad passed away last year, but his wife Solveig remembers the dramatic moment well.
– We lost the house, but I am very grateful that there is no human life. There were many brave people in the river trying and saving things, he tells NRK today.
I learned a lot from “Vesleofsen”
– “Vesleofsen” was in many ways an alarm about how much damage a spring flood can cause. There was an increased awareness of flood risk and a commitment to flood prevention measures, says Hofshagen.
She says a number of steps have been taken since then.
– Hundreds of security measures have only been implemented in the interior area. Flood protection along waterways continues every year, both to renovate old plants and to build new hedges based on knowledge of exposed areas and climate change, she says.
Still, not everyone thinks that the measures taken so far are sufficient. A controversial measure is the massive withdrawal of rivers. Will it help mine rocks and landmasses from some rivers before the indispensable spring flood arrives?
The Moksa River at Thirteen ran again and the house in the upper right was shortly after the photo was taken and crushed in the flood water.
Photo: Jon Eeg / NTB SCANPIX
A house on the Moksa River was demolished during the flood.
Photo: Jon Eeg / NTB Scanpix
The Moksa side river found a new run through the center Thirteen in Gudbrandsdalen. Several buildings were destroyed when the river parted.
Photo: By Løchen / NTB Scanpix
The situation in the Glomma watercourse developed dramatically in 1995. The photograph is taken north of Elverum.
Photo: Jon Eeg / NTB Scanpix
Then-Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland visited Elverum during the 1995 flood.
Photo: Bård Gudim / NTB Scanpix
Large areas south of Elverum were underwater along Glomma during the flood in 1995.
Photo: Jon Eeg / NTB Scanpix
Water flowed into the Strandtorget shopping center in Lillehammer during the 1995 flood.
Photo: Morten Hval / NTB Scanpix
The flood at Koigen in Hamar shows the height of the water during the flood in 1995.
Photo: Cornelius Poppe / NTB SCANPIX
Disagreement over the effect of mass withdrawals
Fear is great among those who have been affected by flooding in the past. Farmer Lars Skjeggestad Kleven in Ringebu has destroyed his land several times. He believes that the destruction will be less by a flood if the mass of stone and land is removed from the Frya River, where it meets Gudbrandsdalslågen.
– I am very concerned that we are not allowed to do anything about it. This can get ugly, says Skjeggestad Kleven.
Pulp extraction from this river has been stopped for environmental reasons. There are several unique natural values in this protected watercourse, including fish and spawning.
– Worse than in 1995
Former Ringebu Mayor Erik S. Winther has also struggled to extract pulp from this river for many years. He is sure that such a measure will help.
– We did not learn anything from the flood in 1995. Today we are worse than before, says Winther.
According to the Inland County Governor and NVE, a massive retreat here will have negative consequences for natural values in the area. They do not believe that there is any evidence to show that precisely this measure in the Frya River fan will have a detrimental effect.
– A massive withdrawal will often only have a short-term effect, because it is nature’s own processes of transporting masses in waterways. In some water courses, removal of the masses will have no flood-damaging effect, while in other water courses the immediate effect is good, Hofshagen says.
He adds that the county governor and NVE have given permission for batch collection at various locations in Gudbrandsdalen this spring, where documentation has shown a good effect.
It also emphasizes that there are typically other types of flood protection measures that have better and longer lasting effects than mass withdrawals. She points to the construction of flood walls as an alternative.
Documentary program on the flood in 1995.
Wild river in Kvam
In recent years there has been a long series of devastating floods in eastern Norway. Kvam in Gudbrandsdalen was hit hard in 2011 and 2013. The masses of water brought an incredible 180,000 cubic meters of mass through Veikledalen in 2013. The center of Kvam had nothing to defend against.
Watch the Kvam TV report:
DAY AFTER: Eastern news case about those affected by the flood in Kvam, Friday May 24.
“We were told that it was safe to rebuild our houses after the previous flood,” one of the villagers told NRK after the flood in 2013.
After the floods in 2011 and 2013, NVE helped the Nord-Fron municipality build two larger lower load barriers.
– They will secure the center of Kvam against new floods. This cost around NOK 150 million, says Toril Hofshagen.
