– There are great powers. It is very special to see. There are wreckage here, says Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp) to NTB. Together with Fisheries and Oceans Minister Bjørnar Skjæran (Ap) and Agriculture and Food Minister Sandra Borch (Sp), the Justice Minister was taken on a boat on Sunday to take a closer look at the landslide areas in Troms. They came close to Reinøya, where two people in their 60s died on Friday when a farm was washed out to sea by the masses of snow. From the boat, the ministers could find wreckage and equipment, including a car, lying on the shore. – People stand no chance against these forces. People become very small in the encounter with nature, says Mehl. Skjæran: – Absolutely terrible The Minister of Fisheries describes it as absolutely terrible to see what has happened. – You can see here on the shore that in addition to people and cattle, there is a whole life’s work that has been spent on the sea, says Skjæran. There is currently a high risk of avalanches in large parts of northern Norway. On Friday, four people died in three different avalanche accidents in Troms. – It is quite powerful to stand here and look at the forces of nature that have been at work here, says Agriculture Minister Sandra Borch. Mehl: – Terribly sad There should not have been any landslides in the area that was hit on Reinøya. – We must constantly work on measures to reduce risk, says Mehl. She says it makes an extra strong impression that the deceased were at home when it happened. – It’s a terribly sad start to Easter. We know that Norway is a great country that many people want to experience in the mountains at Easter, but that it comes with a risk. But the fact that we have already lost four lives on the Friday before Easter week has started, that is very sad, says Mehl. Must review notification routines A theme that has emerged in the aftermath of the avalanche accidents is the routines for notifying the population. On Sunday, an SMS went out from, among others, Skjervøy municipality about a high risk of landslides. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) announces a review of the notification routines. – Some of the landslides occurred in places where it was impossible to know if they would happen, we must learn from that and send precise warnings nationally, says the Prime Minister to news. – We have to go through the routines for what is notified, and how. We have the technological opportunity, so we will get this in place, says the Prime Minister. People still in the mountains Mayor Dan Håvard Johnsen (Sp) in Lyngen municipality says that many tourists were still on their way up the mountains on Sunday, also in areas prone to avalanches. The municipality is on full alert. – The status is that I am receiving reports from Lyngen that there is a very large amount of tourists moving up the mountain now, and partly in areas prone to avalanches, the mayor says to NTB. He says the weather is wonderful. – It’s like walking into a painting. That increases the risk of someone taking slightly unnecessary chances, he says.
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– Absolutely terrible – news Troms and Finnmark
