The Norwegian Public Roads Administration says there will be four or five new landslides on national highway 94 since Monday evening. – We have been following the storm, especially in Leirvika, which has been exposed to landslides earlier this winter. I would say that the decision to close the road is correct, says construction manager Lena Brox. The road was only closed on Monday evening after another landslide in Leirvika. This is in the same area where there have been avalanches four times previously since the New Year. But on the night of Tuesday there have also been avalanches in Saragammen and Klinkastupet. On Tuesday morning, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration started the clean-up work in Saragammen. – It is a little more difficult in Leirvika because of the visibility, says Lena Brox. There is approximately one mile between the extreme points of the races. As of now, Brox does not dare to say whether the avalanche danger will persist in the future. The situation is somewhat unclear due to the storm. – There is a fair probability that it will be closed in the future. But you can perhaps keep the road open for a while during the day, and rather watch when the wind increases in the evening and at night. Then it might be better to switch to column driving, she says. Ras straight past the house Kristine H. Pedersen lives in the small village of Saragammen outside Hammerfest. She got a surprise on Tuesday morning. – The roommate came to weigh me and said that I couldn’t make it to work because of the bad weather, says Kristine. They checked the traffic reports and saw that there had been an avalanche. But they had no idea how close the avalanche had come. – And then I look out the window. The slide was much closer than we thought! The driveway was gone and covered in masses of snow. Fortunately, the garage was not taken. Kristine Pedersen discovers an avalanche just outside her house in Saragammen – You start to think about what could have happened if it got even closer. It goes through my head, says Kristine, and adds: – And is there more snow up there that hasn’t been released? – Know where we live That she is once again shut out of the city of Hammerfest does not come as a surprise. – It’s frustrating, but we also know where we live and that it can be bad weather. Pedersen usually works in a nursery school, but today she is sitting with administrative tasks in her home office. – There is not much to do with it. The snow comes every year anyway. They are working on improving the road, we know that. Kristine H. Pedersen will be sitting at home in Saragammen behind the races today. Photo: Kristine H. Pedersen More storms on the way When the weather clears up a bit, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration will take a closer look at the points where the landslides have occurred, and see how much snow is left. – Is it considered to shoot down in the areas with a lot of snow? – It is absolutely up for consideration. But first there must have been both daylight and wind conditions to go there by helicopter, says Brox in the Swedish Roads Administration. The Meteorological Institute reports strong wind gusts of 27-35 meters per second in the Hammerfest area from Wednesday. There is also a warning for places exposed to storms. – There may be small storm-prone places on the coast from tonight, says on-duty meteorologist Patrick Stoll. On Wednesday, the wind will continue to increase, but Stoll can reassure himself that the weather will not be as strong as the storm that ravaged two weeks ago. – We have a gust warning at yellow level, so there may be local strong gusts in the coastal and fjord areas.
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Avalanche closes the only road to Hammerfest for the fifth time this year – news Troms and Finnmark
