It was a dramatic Saturday evening for Ellen Dragset (76), who had to flee her home when there was a landslide at Grøa in Sunndal late on Saturday evening. – The noise in the house. I didn’t understand what it was, but my son-in-law said it right away, this is a landslide, she says. Ellen Dragset does not know the extent of the damage to her house after the collapse. Photo: Private She had a visit from her daughter and her family, and together they had to drop everything they had to escape from the avalanche masses. The landslide had taken Ellen’s entrance with it. They got the front door open, but had to climb over the railing on the veranda to get away. – It was so dark and we were so scared, she says. She does not know how much damage there is to the house, but says that her daughter’s car was towed with the collapse. On Sunday morning, the road to the landslide area at Grøa is closed. The area will be examined by a geologist on Sunday. Photo: Ole Erik Loe Uncertain when the evacuees will be able to move home A total of 13 people in five houses were evacuated. It is still uncertain when the evacuees will be able to move home. The municipality’s crisis management met at ten o’clock on Sunday to discuss the situation. The landslide at Grøa happened just before 11.30pm on Saturday evening. Mayor of Sunndal, Ståle Refstie. Photo: Remi Sagen / news – Professionals from NVE will carry out a visual inspection around half past one, then we will assess what to do next and when it might be safe for the evacuees to move back, says mayor Ståle Refstie on Sunday morning. So far, no one has been reported to have been physically injured in the incident. – Some were accommodated with friends and relatives, while others were placed in hotels. Our care preparedness group was also on hand to help them. It is clear that both for those who had masses of soil almost up on the stairs, and for those who were evacuated in the middle of the night, it is traumatic, says Refstie. – Terrible The landslide must be 3-4 meters high, 12 meters wide and consists of soil, stone and wood, the police told news on Saturday evening. Per Bakken lives about 200 meters from where the landslide occurred and had to evacuate with his family. They are now accommodated in a hotel. – It’s amazing. One must have respect for such things. I was prepared for that, when the stream was as big as it was. The kids just wear pajamas and combat boots, he says. The landslide is said to have gone towards the houses, but none of the houses in the area are said to have been taken by the landslide. Una Marie Eines Walseth was at home, but did not discover the landslide until someone from the fire service knocked on the door to ask her to evacuate. – I quickly packed the most important things and drove to school with my boyfriend. There we met other evacuated neighbours, the police and the healthcare system, she says. Her mother, Lone Eines, was away on a trip when she got word of what had happened. – We have lived there for 12 years, but have never experienced anything like this, she says. Eines says that they are excited to see the house and how it looks around, but that they have received a message that there should be no damage to the house. On Sunday morning, the road to the landslide area at Grøa is closed. The area will be examined by a geologist on Sunday. Photo: Ole Erik Loe Several landslides are feared The sports park in the same area was also closed on Saturday. Mayor Ståle Refstie says they are prepared for new landslides. – We have had about the same amount of rain as we had during the extreme weather “Gyda” – We live under steep mountain sides and there has been an extremely high amount of rainfall, so landslides can occur in new places. We are watching closely, because it is clear that there is a concern when there has been so much rainfall, he says. Refstie says that the large amounts of water have created several problems. – One thing is the landslide on Grøa, but we have had many situations with roads that have flown over and high groundwater, which means that we have many people who have had water enter their basements. It has so far not been reported that anyone has been injured as a result of the landslide at Grøa on Saturday evening. Landslides in several places on Sunday Just after 11.00 a landslide occurred in front of a house down towards the river Måna in Måndalen. According to the police, neither people nor houses should be damaged. The landslide must be approximately 15 by 15 meters in size. – Six people from two houses have been evacuated after the landslide. The municipality has been notified and will work with accommodation if there is a need, the police say. NVE has been notified and will try to send expertise to the site for assessment. On Sunday morning, there was also a landslide across Bøfjordvegen. There are no houses in the area, but the road is closed, the police wrote on Twitter. At 11.00, one of the fields on the road was open. Large amounts of rainfall It was a hectic Saturday evening for the fire brigade at Nordmøre in Møre og Romsdal. Due to large amounts of rainfall, rivers have overflowed, and large amounts of water have penetrated several dwellings. – There are a lot of houses where groundwater has entered, said brigade leader Lars Grødal in the fire service in Sunndal to news on Saturday evening. Water in the basement on Nordmøre. Photo: Ole Erik Loe He could tell that the water was several centimeters up the walls in several houses, and that it was difficult to get control because more water kept coming. They therefore had to ask for help from colleagues in Molde. Brigade leader Lars Grødal in Sunndal had a lot to do on Saturday evening helping people. Photo: Ole Erik Loe Closed tunnels The large amounts of water also created problems for the Øksendal tunnel on county road 62. The tunnel was closed for several hours because it was not possible to keep the water out. – We are now pumping water out of the tunnel, said fire chief Lars Grødal to the local newspaper Aura Avis just before 9 p.m. According to the newspaper, the water was then about half a meter inside the tunnel. Only just before midnight was the tunnel opened again. Earlier on Saturday evening, the Gyltunnel in the neighboring municipality of Tingvoll was also closed due to a lot of water. Fire chief Lars Grødal says they are working to get the water out of the Øksendal tunnel. It is very wet in the area on Saturday evening. Photo: Ingrid Ellevset / Aura Avis Danger warning A warning was sent out about very heavy rain both in Trøndelag and Møre og Romsdal before the weekend Very heavy rain is expected in Trøndelag and Møre og Romsdal Heavy rainfall led to road closures in Melhus on Friday. Photo: Tor Arne Granmo In Trøndelag, sandbags were laid out and embankments built to prevent more overflows after the river rose on Friday. On Saturday, the river Sokna overflowed and blocked a county road. At least 22 people were locked up because of the embarrassment. And several cellars were full of water.
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