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They are Tomasgard
Secretary of LO, former speaker at Sørum
Crises hit us. Today, a natural disaster struck Gjerdrum.
The landslide at Gjerdrum in Romerike has shocked us. Our thoughts are with all those affected.
We must be grateful to all the emergency services and people who are now dealing with a confusing and demanding situation. At the same time, we are now preparing for gloomy messages throughout the day. This is a warning that the forces of nature are on the move.
The landslide at Gjerdrum occurs without warning and unexpected at that very moment, but not without warning that the landslide is to be expected in the coming years at Romerike.
As mayor of the neighboring Gjerdrum municipality, Sørum (now Lillestrøm), geologists told me that rapid clay landslides can move up to 30 times the height of the quarry edge. It can be particularly challenging if the landslides traverse rivers or streams, resulting in dams with a chain of sequelae.
From my point of view, and with some knowledge of Romerike, it is worrying that we know so little about the basic conditions in this area. Paradoxically, we probably know more about the soil conditions under the seafloor in Norwegian waters than we do about the soil conditions in areas where people live and live their lives.
The reality is that much of Romerike consists of ancient sea beds. When the sea receded many thousands of years ago, large areas of flat terrain were left behind.
Also read: Geotechnical after landslides: – If you live in areas with living clay, notify the municipality
For thousands of years, the water in rivers, streams, and the ground has worked. Erosions due to water movement have created many gullies (small valleys) in the terrain. Quick clay is old seawater that has been hidden by the ground over time, and where the fresh water has basically washed the salt away. When the salt is washed, the stability of the soil is reduced.
When the bags of clay collapse rapidly, masses such as dirt, clay, and other objects will move on the collapsing bag. The moving masses will carry with them another mass.
From the landslide area at Gjerdrum. Photo: Fredrik Hagen / NTB
Here in Romerike, there are now longer freeways, high-speed trains and freight trains than ever. There is more water in the waterways as a result of a significant increase in rainfall, and changes in temperature have led to more extreme weather.
The water works, and the quick bag of clay at Gjerdrum isn’t the last we’ve seen run at Romerike. We have seen it before, in Trøndelag, in Alta, in Jæren and several times in Romerike. The great landslide at Lørenfallet is perhaps the most famous and among the most important races. When we drove from Lørenfallet to Sørum’s church, we actually climbed over the edge of the landslide that arrived here in 1794.
Also read: When everything collapsed
Today there are probably a hundred times more people living in Romerike than there were at the time, and this is also the case in other places where we have greater challenges with fast clay.
Although today and the near future will of course be about the Gjerdrum landslide and reassuring everyone affected in the best possible way, it is appropriate to warn that something must happen after this.
In my opinion, it is already quite clear that the government and the Storting must set aside significant resources to increase awareness of ground conditions in areas with many quick tenants. Clear goals for mapping should be set, and NVE should receive significant resources.
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This is something that we at LO and the unions have raised before without being heard. We have seen natural disasters like this as one of the biggest challenges. We may not be able to prevent rapid clay slides, but we can prevent them from leading to major disasters by knowing more about where they came from.
The country needs a total emergency commission. We need knowledge about the risk landscape in our time.
We must approach this across the board, because security must be equally important, regardless of the political ideology that can be trusted.
This comment was first published in Agenda magazine.
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