Blizzard on Jæren – People were frantic

closed roads franticRoad closed for traffic due to weather. Statens vegvesen / NTB scanpix

Blizzard on Jæren – People were stuck & frantic

Heavy winds triggered drifting snow – blocking several roads on Jæren through late Saturday and into the night. This led to a number of cars being stuck in the dark, unable to drive whether here nor there. All available ploughing crews are still busy.

 

Late on Saturday, the police chose to urge people to park their cars for the night in the southwestern part of Norway, due to that several cars were already stuck in the blizzard. Even the rescue teams were severely hampered in their attempts to help out. In the early hours of Sunday morning, Operations Manager in the Southwest Police District, Jøran Solheim, provides a status report:

“We have had about 20 volunteer crews out on a dozen snowmobiles to retrieve persons who were stuck in their cars, unable to move in either direction. There are approximately 15 persons who have been brought out, two of which were very cold after waiting three to four hours for assistance, but nothing really dramatic occurred,” Solheim tells NTB.

Frantic

He says there were many calls made to the police and emergency room when the weather was at its worst.

“It was quite impossible to see anything in front of you in the drifting snow, we had a truck driver who called in and told that he couldn’t even see the tire in front of him as he was about to put on snow-chains. It’s understandable that people became both frantic and frightened,” Solheim elaborates. He takes the opportunity to praise the volunteer crews who have been at it all through the night.

“The weather turned at around 2 in the night when it stopped snowing, but it is still very windy. Even though all the ploughing crews are up and about, the drifting snow keeps blocking the road behind them. It is difficult to estimate when the roads will be cleared in order for traffic to resume,” he concludes.

Closed road sections

The Norwegian Road Traffic Central notifies that the following stretches are closed for traffic, due to the blizzard:

  • County Road 201 Bollested – Undheim
  • County Road 165 Søyland – Kaffiholen
  • County Road 504 Varhaug – Bue
  • County Road 145 Varhaug – Kydland
  • County Road 147 Tjemsland-Ualand

County Road 181 Varhaug-Mossige has already been reopened for traffic.


© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
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2 Comments on "Blizzard on Jæren – People were frantic"

  1. the translation into English is extremely poor..( laughable )

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