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Flooded roads, collapsed bridges and suspended ferries were among the remnants of Tropical Storm “Sally” repaired yesterday when it struck northern Norway.
The heavy rains caused the rivers to overflow.
County emergency manager Asgeir Jordbru believes an extreme warning should have been sent.
Photo: Wigdis Korsvik / Nordland County Governor
In Rana Township in Helgeland, 1,200 people were left isolated.
The day after the violent storm, Nordland County’s emergency director has no doubt that an extreme warning should have been sent.
– It should have been a red alert. We follow it up with NVE and the Norwegian Meteorological Institute and look at improvements that can be made so that we can hit better next time, says Asgeir Jordbru.
At the same time, the storm is moving north. In Storsteinnes in Troms, 38 people have been evacuated after a landslide and the municipality of Balsfjord has posted crisis personnel.
Large amounts of precipitation
On Monday morning, the hazard warning was updated from yellow to orange. Meteorologists predicted storms from the west, with gusts of 30 to 35 meters per second.
At various locations in Nordland, up to 100 millimeters of precipitation had been forecast for one day.
– The weather was much worse than expected. We have to see what happened during the reporting period and if things can be rectified there, says Jordbru.
E6 was closed Monday night at three locations in Helgeland due to flooding. The strong wind caused almost all ferry connections along the Nordland coast to be canceled.
The Nordlandsbanen was also closed after a landslide at Krokstand
E6 flooded at Rana in Helgeland.
E6 flooded at Rana in Helgeland.
PHOTO: SNAPCHAT
You think the meteorologists got the forecast right
The director of alerts, Bård Fjukstad, believes, however, that the meteorologists were quite correct in their warnings.
Alerts director Bård Fjukstad of the Meteorological Institute insists it was okay not to send out extreme weather warnings.
Photo: Kamilla Pedersen
– Already on Friday we left with a yellow notice, and it was updated to orange on Monday morning. When we look at the strength of the wind and the amount of precipitation that was measured at our stations, I mean that we announced correctly and according to the criteria we use today, he tells NRK.
The orange hazard warning indicates that it will be a serious situation that occurs rarely.
It also means that emergency services and emergency authorities must prepare for the fact that the weather can cause serious injury.
The force of the storm was clearly visible on the Bodø pier.
Photo: Gerd Wenche Eilifsdatter Huru
If the meteorologists had updated the forecast to extreme weather in this case, the wind would have been even stronger and the amount of precipitation even higher.
Fjukstad emphasizes that it is important to keep the term “extreme weather” until it really becomes extreme over large areas.
However, both the Norwegian Meteorological Institute and NVE will assess whether something could have been done differently.
The orange danger is severe
Also at NVE, they think they got it right when they came out with an orange hazard level warning.
Hege Hisdal at NVE believes they got their danger warning right.
Photo: Stig Storheil / NVE
– When we say that emergency authorities must be prepared for closed roads and bridges and that buildings and infrastructure can be exposed to serious damage, we mean that it is very serious, says the director of the hydrology department of the NVE, Hege Hisdal.
On Tuesday, the flow of water in some waterways in Troms and Finnmark continues to increase.
– I’ve never seen anything like it
Farmer Leif Egil Amundsen in Neverneset from Grønfjelldalen in Rana was one of those who was isolated yesterday.
He saw with his own eyes that the bridge to the village collapsed and disappeared into the bodies of water in the Grønfjellåga River.
– I stopped and looked at the river, because it was on all its banks and the axis of the boots. I’ve never seen anything like it. It was so big that it scooped up the bridge girders.
In various parts of Helgeland, roads were flooded with rivers and streams where the water level had risen considerably.
200 isolated people
As of Tuesday morning, just over 200 residents remain isolated in the Grønnfjelldal, Virvassdalen, Langvassgrenda and Elvmøthei areas in Rana.
A bridge expert goes to Rana to inspect the damaged bridges. This morning, the municipality will meet with Bane Nord to discuss the possibilities of the train stopping within the isolated area of Grønnfjelldal.
Crisis management in Rana is still being strengthened with representatives of the police and the National Guard.
On Tuesday Vegtrafikksentralen reports snow and winter conditions on the E6 over Saltfjellet, rv. 77 on Graddis and fv. 813 on Beiarfjellet.
– Make sure you have the right tires if you are going to go through one of these sections.
Tomorrow another round of storms and storms awaits Nordland.
– From the afternoon there will be a strong gale in the south. Then a small storm awaits once again heading south and southwest north of Bodø. A full storm is expected off the Vesterålen coast, says on-duty meteorologist Charalampos Sarchosidis.
