It has been an unusually wet weekend in Møre og Romsdal. After hours of torrential rain, a large landslide occurred in Sunndal on Saturday evening. A total of 13 people had to be evacuated in a hurry. In the dark, the emergency services were unable to establish how big the landslide was, and the experts could not rule out new landslides either. The large amounts of rainfall also led to closed roads and tunnels, and a number of residential buildings that got water in their basements. Mayor Ståle Refsti (Ap) is now calling for better warning of the storm. – We had to call out crews and scale up the preparedness along the way. There could have been consequences if people had been indisposed or done something else, he says. All the emergency reports went out last night when the large landslide occurred in Sunndal. Photo: Ole Erik Loe – Big gap in the warning The mayor says the storm on Saturday night was much worse than in January, during the extreme weather Gyda. At that time, preparedness was coordinated through the State Administrator and there were a number of red danger warnings ahead. – The fact that there is such a large gap in the warning of weather that hits us just as hard is worrying in terms of good extreme warnings and that we should be able to do the job we have to do, he says. The mayor describes the situation as traumatic for those who had to be evacuated in the dark without warning. One of them was Ellen Dragset (76). She was visited by two daughters and the men, and had to let go of everything they had to escape from the avalanche masses. – It was so dark and we were so scared, she says. Ellen Dragset (76) did not realize anything when the avalanche happened late in the evening. Then he had to go out at full speed. Here in conversation with the mayor. Photo: Pål Kristian Lindseth / news Send out a yellow warning Friday afternoon, the Meteorological Institute will send out a yellow danger warning and report large amounts of rainfall in Møre and Romsdal and Trøndelag. This notice was sent out on Friday afternoon. The mayor of Sunndal thinks it should be red. On-duty meteorologist Espen Biseth Granan at the Meteorological Institute believes that the yellow warning was correct, the whole area seen as one. And that it means local variations with more precipitation in some places. – We cannot notify individual municipalities, we are not that good. Then there will be an awful lot of tax notices if we are to do it. We have to see a larger area, he says. On-duty meteorologist Espen Biseth Granan at the Meteorological Institute says they are unable to predict the weather in each municipality. Photo: Meteorological Institute. Before the weekend, Norway’s Water Resources and Energy Directorate, NVE, warned of the risk of flash floods and landslides at a yellow level. Director Brigt Samdal says that the information they had in advance indicated a yellow level, and that it is difficult to know exactly what the weather will be like. – The municipalities must also take yellow alerts seriously. This can lead to incidents. There will always be uncertainty connected to the notification, says Samdal. Director Brigt Samdal in NVE says the municipalities must take yellow alerts seriously. Photo: ODDMUND HAUGEN / news Hope to be better bid next time On Sunday, the rain is on its way back, and the rainfall has decreased. But roads and fields are still under water. Geologists are on the move at the crash site. Førebels has no record of the injuries. The mayor hopes they are better prepared the next time something similar happens. – It is bad if too much notice is given, then it becomes “wolf, wolf”, but it is actually bad if they give too little notice, he says.
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Critical to the fact that the weather forecast did not sound the alarm – 13 had to be evacuated – news Møre og Romsdal – Local news, TV and radio
