– We have had a real downpour in Kristiansand in the last hour and a half, says Linn Andresen, operations manager in the Agder police district. The Banehei tunnel, which leads the E18 through the center of Kristiansand, has been flooded with water. – There are three fields in the tunnel. I’m coming from right field, and it’s complete chaos, says Olav Lam, who took this photo in the tunnel. Large amounts of water have arrived in Kristiansand after heavy rainfall. Here, a car stands in the Banehei tunnel surrounded by a lot of water. Photo: Tipser / news Vegtrafikksentralen Sør also reports water accumulation in the Oddernestunnel as a result of the rain. This leads to queues on the E18. The two tunnels are only separated by the Oddernesbrua, which crosses the river Otra in Kristiansand. – There is so much water in the Banehei tunnel that it is difficult to drive through, says operations manager Andresen. Motorist received help At 17.26 the Swedish Traffic Agency writes that they are closing the tunnel for a short time. – Work is being done to remove the water in the tunnel, so that traffic can flow normally again, they write on Twitter. There are large amounts of water in the western opening of the tunnel mouth. – The patrol will close the tunnel briefly in connection with Viking picking up a car in the tunnel, says Andresen. The police have notified the road traffic center and the fire service to possibly get help to pump out the water. Employees in Tønnesen shoe store in Torgkvartalet shopping center mop up water from the floor, after heavy rain caused flooding in several places in Kristiansand on Friday afternoon. Photo: Tor Erik Schrøder / NTB Heavy rain led to a lot of storm water and traffic problems in the Banehei tunnel on the E18. High water level in Østre Ålefjærvei in Kristiansand. – There is generally a lot of water on the road in Southern Norway. According to the weather forecast, it should calm down now. But we ask people to drive according to the conditions. There is a risk of aquaplaning, says Andresen. 60 millimeters in two hours Figures from the Meteorological Institute show that there was respectively 26.4 and 24.8 millimeters of rain between 3-4pm and 4-5pm at the Dueknipen measuring station, which is approximately 500 meters away from the tunnel. State meteorologist Rafael Escobar Løvdahl Photo: Eivind Molde / news The most rain has fallen on Holdalsnuten with 29.8 and 30.1 millimeters in the two hours the rain fell over Kristiansand from 15 to 17. Holdalsnuten is located on Gimlekollen, not far away either E18 in Kristiansand. The worst rainy weather has passed Kristiansand at 5pm. Follow Yr. – Heavy thunderstorms in Southern Norway today have produced a lot of rainfall in a short time. These are large drops that form when warm and moist air is quickly pushed up into the atmosphere. This type of rainfall can cause stormwater in densely built-up areas and local flooding, says state meteorologist Rafael Escobar Løvdal at the Meteorological Institute. The danger of closed roads, stormwater at streams and rivers and locally difficult driving conditions is not unusual with such amounts of rainfall in a short time. Norway’s record for torrential rain in Norway is from Tjøme on 29 July 2021, when 78.5 mm came in 60 minutes. The same event recorded 26.5 mm in 10 minutes. Cellars full A danger warning had been sent out for the affected areas. Earlier today there was heavy rain over Rogaland and western parts of Agder. Mandal received 17.7 millimeters between 3 and 4 p.m. – There has been a lot of rainfall in the western part of the district. Flekkefjord, Farsund and Gyland, says operations manager Andresen. – There are a number of inquiries about people who have water in the basement. They are routed on to the fire service, says Andresen. By 6pm on Friday, close to 30 storm damage to homes and businesses had been received by If. The damage figure is expected to rise beyond Friday evening and the next few days. It is primarily water that has penetrated into cellars in the Kristiansands area that is affected, writes the insurance company If in a press release. According to If, some cars have also suffered water damage. Sigmund Clementz in IF damage insurance. Photo: IF Skadeforsikring – It usually takes some time before it is possible to get a good picture of how many damages such storms cause. There is always a backlog in the damage reports. At the same time, the storm is ongoing elsewhere along the coast, so there could be a lot of damage in several places, says communications manager Sigmund Clementz at If in a press release. He currently has no estimate of what the damages are in kroner and øre.
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Large bodies of water create queues and close E18 in Kristiansand – news Sørlandet – Local news, TV and radio
