– It is a serious situation and it requires some emergency preparedness preparations when the water flow is at such a high level, says Anne Stavang, flood warning in NVE. Flood warnings have been issued at the orange level for the Målselv watercourse and the Reisavassdraget in Troms and Finnmark county. The water flow is expected to remain at a high level throughout the weekend. – An orange warning means that we expect floods, erosion damage and flood damage. It can lead to both closed roads and bridges. In addition, buildings and other infrastructure can be exposed to serious incidents. One meter from the house wall Reisaelva’s nearest neighbor, Henry Vangen, can tell that the river is now a 40 centimeter lower flood peak last year. Then he got the river all the way to the house wall. The river is now one meter away from his house wall. Still, he’s not worried. – It depends a bit on how hot it gets and if it rains. I’m not very worried, they promise colder temperatures over the weekend. Vangen is aware that you must have ice in your stomach when you live so close to the river. – It used to go well, it has gone well for 70 years, so we can hope it is this year as well. This is what it looked like at Vangen last year: On Monday, Reisaelva had passed the targets for five-year floods. Even then, rapporteur Hilde Nyvoll was worried about the rain waiting for the weekend. She says that they now monitor the river’s water level from hour to hour. She has a clear appeal to people. – There are very many who think it is fun to look at the river when it is big and powerful as it is now, but you must not go so close that you are a danger to yourself. She emphasizes that there are great forces at work. Mayor Hilde Nyvoll at Reisaelva a previous year. The river has now received flood warnings at the orange level. Photo: Sveinung Åsali / news The spring flood has led to a collapse of the snowmelt and the large water flow has already led to closed roads. On Tuesday night, all traffic over the bridge on E6 in Kvænangen was closed after it suffered a serious break in the middle. The only detour option is via Finland, and Norway has thus been divided into two. From, for example, Alta to Tromsø, this means that the 381 kilometer long road has suddenly become a drive of 544 kilometers. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration is working hard to get a new temporary bridge in place. The goal is for the bridge to be ready next week. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration states that they have currently also strengthened the monitoring of the other bridges. – We monitor all the bridges closely. We have reinforced observation, with contractors but in some places we send out our own construction personnel. We monitor some bridges electronically, says Bjørn Laksforsmo in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration. Live camera showing the bridge over the E6 in Badderen in Kvænangen municipality in North Troms. Unpredictable tributaries The affected municipalities, NVE and the various agencies met on Friday afternoon in the county emergency preparedness council with the state administrator. – There, the municipalities and the various agencies have informed about their preparations, and how to assess the situation. says Knut Hoseth, regional manager in NVE for region north. Knut Hoseth in NVE encourages people not to stay close to the river banks. Photo: NVE He encourages people in the affected areas to stay away from the rivers and secure loose objects. He also says that the main rivers do not react as quickly to precipitation and temperature as the smaller tributaries. – They may have a completely different behavior, where situations may arise that are more unpredictable and challenging.
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Flood warning at orange level in several places in Troms and Finnmark – news Troms and Finnmark
