Linda Sogge was in the middle of cleaning the house when the phone rang. It was the police. They had to evacuate. Even though it was ten years ago, she remembers it well. – I didn’t use to get phone calls from the police. You got a bit of a shock, yes. Was a bit scared, actually. It suddenly became so serious, she says. Linda Sogge lives under Mannen. When an area in the mountains became extra unstable, she and her family had to evacuate. Photo: Frederik Winness Ringnes / news Just before, movements were detected in the mountain under which she lives. Now the movements had become larger. Little did Linda know at the time that the phone call would start a completely new period in her life. A period where the family had pre-packed evacuation boxes ready by the front door. Year after year. Pressing the big red button Fjellet Mannen in Romsdal is one of ten dangerous mountains that are continuously monitored in Norway today. In October 2014, ten years ago, the geologists noticed that the movements in the mountain were increasing. A small part of the mountain can collapse within a short time. The geologists believe in mid-October 2014 that a mountain section of between 10,000-40,000 cubic meters of rock can erupt within a short time. Photo: Åknes Tafjord preparedness IKS Suddenly the mountain is checked several times a day. After two weeks, the big red button is pressed. The race scenario is adjusted upwards. It is feared that the landslide could reach both railways and buildings, and that as much as 120,000 cubic meters of rock could come thundering down the mountainside. Here the police are in place in Rauma on October 28, 2014. Photo: Sara Lovise Roaldseth / news Here are the police in place at the Lyngheim bridge in Rauma, near Mannen on October 22. Photo: Gunnar Sandvik / news – It’s a bit disgusting, but I neither believe nor hope that the landslide will come all the way down to our farm. We are going anyway to be on the safe side, said Linda Sogge to news on 22 October 2014. Photo: Brede Røsjø / news On 23 October 2014, the geologists were both up on the mountain Mannen and in a helicopter to look at the cracks in the mountain. Photo: Gunnar Sandvik / news Residents leave while press and spectators flock to the mountain Linda Sogge and her family, husband, two children and dog, pack their things and leave their home on 22 October 2014. Altogether 11 people under the mountain have to evacuate. Now it is the police and civil defense that occupy the valley. They keep watch and have listening posts under the dangerous mountain. People in Rauma hold their breath while all major Norwegian newsrooms broadcast live from the mountain around the clock. The then Minister of Justice Anders Anundsen was in Rauma on 29 October 2014 to be briefed on the situation under the dangerous mountain. There were eventually many politicians who made the trip to the racially dangerous mountain party. Photo: Ivar Lid Riise / news There were a lot of press people in Rauma these days in October 2014. Photo: Lena Høyberg / news At the start, many of the media companies provided campervans under the Weslemannen to follow the mountain around the clock. Photo: Sara Lovise Roaldseth / news On 24 October 2015, Prime Minister Erna Solberg invited herself to Rauma to meet those who live under the dangerous mountain. Photo: Tore Ellingseter / news On 22 April 2018, Prime Minister Erna Solberg returned for another visit to the residents under Veslemannen who were still living with the constant risk of landslides and evacuation. Photo: Håvard Jangaard Strand / news Justice and Immigration Minister Jøran Kallmyr was also in Rauma on a visit in July 2019. There he met Jørgen Sogge, among others, who was one of those who were constantly being evacuated. Photo: Øyvind Berge Sæbjørnsen / news The press coverage is massive. The mountain also receives international attention. While the journalists are reporting, it is raining up in the valley. It helps to build up expectations. Because everyone eventually realizes that rain is a positive thing when mountains are coming down. The geologists have said that repeatedly. Then it becomes even more exciting. At a press conference on 28 October, chief geologist Lars Harald Blikra says that the landslide could come within a few hours. Here geologist Lars Harald Blikra sits at a press conference on 28 October 2014. It was one of countless press conferences about the mountain party. But the geologist remembers this press conference extra well. Photo: Lena Høyberg / news But the geologist is wrong. The landslide will not come in October 2014. It will not come in November either. At the same time, there is no shortage of suggestions on how to get the mountain down. The Danish newspaper Politiken wrote in its humor column that perhaps the scream from the artist Björk could start the slide. But nothing happens. The residents are constantly being evacuated, and the geologists are struggling to understand what is happening in the rock that holds its ground. Many of the residents under the mountain will be evacuated 15 more times from their homes. news alone will manage to write almost 250 online stories. And it will be five years before the collapse comes. Hans Petter Eide “Harmannenfalt.no” went viral When the dangerous mountain became a regular feature in the news, Hans Petter Eide got an idea. The system developer from Eidsdal in Sunnmøre created a website that answered what everyone was wondering. Namely “harmannenfalt.no”. Even he did not imagine that this would become a big deal. – But eventually it went so-called “viral”, and not a day went by without me being asked if Mannen had fallen. Private Up to 6 million page views On the most visited days, the website could have up to 6 million page views, distributed among 600-700,000 users, according to Eide. The website was featured in newspapers, radio programs and TV programs. – I was even interviewed by the New York Times. I am still often introduced to people as “he is the one who made the Harmannenfalt site”, says Eide. Hans Petter Eide Weslemannen finally fell The man still hasn’t fallen, but the Weslemannen eventually did, and the website was updated. Eide has a theory as to why the website became so popular. – I reckon that people agreed with me that there was probably a lot of fishing for clicks on the part of the media, without really bringing anything new to the table, he says. The website is still up and has between 15-30 visitors daily. The mayor cried when the mountain finally fell. On 5 September 2019, Weslemannen let go of the roof and slid down the mountainside in Rauma. – It felt great. I wasn’t afraid of the mountain itself and the slide. But then we thought; Maybe we can be allowed to live in peace, said Linda Sogge. The mayor of Rauma, Lars Olav Hustad, stood on the live stream and cried. The dam burst. See the first reaction to the landslide from a moved mayor, Lars Olav Hustad on 5 September 2019. – It was emotional. In retrospect, you may have realized that you were under a lot of pressure and that you had to make many decisions. And when the landslide finally came, after five years and countless rounds every autumn, it was a bit too much for everyone, says the former mayor now. – Not the smartest thing I’ve said. Also for the chief geologist, who had suffered defeat after defeat in recent years, the collapse was long-awaited. Large masses of rock tumbled down Weslemannen. Large parts of the mountain section have collapsed. NVE’s geologist Lars Harald Blikra tells news that large parts of the Veslemannen mountain range have collapsed. By then, almost five years had passed since he said in 2014 that the mountain could collapse within a few hours. – I realized that it wasn’t the smartest thing I said, he says now in hindsight. When he made the statement, he believed it. But time and time again the mountain would show the geologists that nature does not always behave according to the textbook. Lars Harald Blikra is currently section manager in the section for landslides in NVE. Here he is pictured up on Mannen in August 2019. He learned a lot about how different mountains are below Weslemannen. Some mountains can withstand high speeds before collapsing, while others can withstand much less before large landslides occur. Photo: Frode Berg Learned a lot about how mountains behave The positive thing after all the evacuations year after year is that the geologists took a lot of knowledge with them from Rauma which will be useful in the future, Blikra believes. – If we had the knowledge we have today, we would certainly have had fewer evacuations, although there would still have been a good number. We learned a lot about how a mountain behaves when it is about to collapse. This is probably the last photo taken of the 50 meter high “spire” which geologists believe for several years was the part that held the Weslemannen mountain section in place even though there were large movements inside the mountain. Photo: Øyvind Sandnes / news Seeing changes in other mountains NVE also learned important lessons about crisis preparedness and communication. Because it was important that the geologists communicated in such a way that the authorities and the population had confidence in the work they did when monitoring, warning and evacuating. That knowledge can become important at any time. Because the geologists see that there are changes in several of the mountains they monitor. These ten mountain sections are continuously monitored by NVE Møre and Romsdal Åknes in Stranda municipality Mannen in Rauma municipality Hegguraksla in Fjord municipality Troms and Finnmark Jettan in Kåfjord municipality Indre Nordnes in Kåfjord municipality Gámanjunni 3 in Kåfjord municipality Vestland Joasetbergi (Stampa) in Aurland municipality Stiksmoen in Aurland municipality Tussafoten in Eidfjord municipality Innlandet Source: NVE In the mountain part of Åkneset on Sunnmøre, they have had periods where movements have increased, before it calms down again. Therefore, the geologists are prepared for the possibility that you may once again find yourself in a situation reminiscent of the Weasel Man, only on a larger scale. The mountain party Åkneset on Sunnmøre could trigger the biggest disaster in Norwegian history, and is therefore continuously monitored. NVE is now investigating how they can drain the mountain of water, and dry out the landslide area to stabilize the mountain. Photo: Synnøve Hole / news – If we do not take any measures at Åkneset, there is a high probability that something will happen in the near future, says Blikra. Got everyday life back For several years, much of life revolved around the Weasel man. Five years after the landslide, the chief geologist also has good memories. Then he especially thinks of all the people he met under the dangerous mountain. Coffee cups were one of the things Linda had in the evacuation boxes in the hallway. She would rather drink from her own. Now she doesn’t have to think about it anymore. Photo: Frederik Winness Ringnes / news Residents like Linda Sogge and her family who for several years lived with the fact that rainy weather was a warning. – I knew when it started to rain that something was brewing. You became quite insecure. Now, after the landslide is history, rainy weather has taken on a different meaning. – I sometimes think about it with a bit of a happy feeling when it rains: Yes, we don’t have to evacuate, smiles Linda Sogge. Fjellpartiet Veslemannen Photo: Remi Sagen / news Mannen is a mountain at 1,294 meters above Horgheim in Rauma municipality in Romsdalen. A small and unstable part of the mountain was called Veslemannen. The mountain party was carefully monitored by geologists. In 2014, the movements in the mountains increased and people were evacuated from their houses for the first time. The fear was that the stone masses would hit the houses and the train line. During the next five years there were 16 evacuations. Geologists tried to trigger a landslide using water in 2017, but it was unsuccessful. 5 September 2019 the Weslemannen race. Published 27.10.2024, at 20.15
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Before, Linda felt unsafe every time it rained at Weslemannen
