NVE expands landslide and flood warning

environmental capital flood warningAkerselva River in Oslo during flood. Photo: visitoslo.no

NVE expands the scope of landslide and flood warning

The flood warning that has encompassed large parts of Western Norway has been extended to include municipalities along the Otta Watercourse. At the same time, the danger of landslides increases in Western Norway. The article is updated to the current situation.

 

Flood warning at the orange level applies to Hordaland, Sogn & Fjordane and affected municipalities along the Otta watercourse in Oppland due to heavy snow and glacier melting and a sharp increase in the water flow on Sunday.

Several rivers and streams have overflowed their banks in Northern Gudbrandsdalen and cause flood chaos, according to NRK. Several cars and buildings are destroyed by the water masses, houses have been evacuated and several residents have lost their electrical supply due to the flood.

At the same time, NVE expands the landslide and flood warning in Western Norway to apply to several municipalities in Rogaland and Møre & Romsdal. The landslide danger is now at the yellow level throughout the area covered by the warning. On Varsom.no it is pointed to that there have been up to 180 millimetres of precipitation locally in the last 48 hours, and a lot of additional rain is expected on Sunday afternoon and in the night before Monday.

– Rain and heavy snow melting will provide a further increase in water flow locally. Precipitation will come as rain high in the mountains, and in areas of glacier and snow, melting will contribute to increased water flow. Very high temperatures and rain have in the night leading up to Sunday led to a sharp increase in water flow in several waterways. Some watercourses had flood levels on the red level on Sunday morning, according to the authorities on Varsom.no.

Flood warning at the red level in Inner Sogn and upper parts of the Otta watercourse

The flood warning has been updated to the red level in Inner Sogn and the upper part of the Otta watercourse, while it is at the orange level in Hordaland and large parts of Sogn & Fjordane.

Red level entails the risk of extensive flooding, erosion damage and flooding damage. Houses and roads have already been flooded several places, including in Skjåk.

– It appears that we can get more rainfall and more glacier and snow melting than previously thought. In particular, areas with high mountains in Inner Sogn and upper parts of Otta are exposed, and we have therefore raised the danger level to red in these areas, says Acting Director of NVE, Grethe Helgås,.

There are large amounts of water in several watercourses in Western Norway, including in Stryn, Luster, Årdal and Aurland. Both in Luster and Skjåk people have been evacuated. Many have water in the cellars, and several roads are closed.

– The NVE has been in contact with several of the municipalities who are involved to provide information – and to get an overview of the situation. We also have people on the way to assist with professional advice in some of the most vulnerable municipalities, Helgås concludes.

 

© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today