Norwegians brace for extra fallout from heavy downpours

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norwegians braced Thursday for extra flooding and destruction as rivers surged after days of torrential rain that dumped huge quantities of water on mountains within the nation’s southeast, the place massive areas are inundated or affected. resulting from landslides

1000’s of individuals residing close to watercourses have been evacuated, their houses emptied and their automobiles moved to greater floor.

It was feared that the railway bridge over the Lågen river might collapse because of the massive quantity of water, however railway authorities stated on Thursday that it was now secure. Site visitors throughout the bridge had been disrupted on Monday.

On Wednesday, a close-by dam partially collapsed after Norway’s largest river burst its banks, breaking the construction. Communities situated downstream have been evicted and no victims have been reported. In accordance with the police, the state of affairs on the dam was being frequently assessed.

Residents within the metropolis of Hønefossen, by which the Begna River flows, have been evacuated because of the monumental quantity of water that flooded the middle. The authorities didn’t supply the overall variety of evicted all through the nation, however the Norwegian tv station NRK identified that there can be as much as 4,000.

Helicopters have been standing by to assist get individuals out of essentially the most distant areas. Authorities stated flooding might final till Friday and main roads could possibly be closed for days.

“The water degree will rise,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre stated Wednesday night time of the flooding. “It’s a severe warning for the following few days.”

Storm Hans has been raging throughout northern Europe since Monday, inflicting injury and disruption in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. There have been canceled ferry routes, delayed flights, flooded streets and highways, in addition to accidents from falling branches, and hundreds of individuals with out energy. The southeast of Norway has been significantly affected.

“The acute climate has had severe penalties in a number of components of the nation, the state of affairs is severe and always evolving,” stated appearing chief of the Norwegian police, Håkon Skulstad.

Norway’s Water Assets and Vitality Directorate on Thursday raised the alert degree for floods and landslides from orange to pink for some areas within the south of the nation.

“This can be a very severe state of affairs that may trigger severe penalties and injury,” he stated in a press release.

Norwegian meteorologists issued a pink alert for excessive downpours.

In neighboring Sweden, a part of the port of the nation’s second-largest metropolis, Gothenburg, was nonetheless flooded. Roads and prepare tracks within the space have been closed because of the water.

The Swedish Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology issued orange advisories — the second highest degree — for flood danger for areas alongside the border with Norway.