Extreme weather “Ingunn” is expected to be so strong that a red danger warning has been issued on Wednesday, and people from Nordfjord to Helgeland must prepare for extremely strong gusts of wind. This is how “Ingunn” hits, according to state meteorologist Stine Sagen: Vestland: Strong gusts of wind in Nordfjord from mid-day. Could become a hurricane near Stad, and a full storm on the coast from 12 o’clock. According to the latest forecasts, the worst wind will hit further north than previously thought. Møre and Romsdal: The storm continues north, and hits the coast during the day. The Trøndelag coast: Here the storm can hit the hardest, and there is already a storm here. Hurricane warning Wednesday evening. Helgeland coast: The wind will be strongest here around 01-02 on the night of Thursday. Brings back memories of the New Year’s hurricane In 1992, Kåre and Karin Nyheim lost their house on Flatraket in Stad municipality in the big New Year’s hurricane. The hurricane damaged nearly 34,000 private properties. One person was found dead outside his house the day after the hurricane. It is unknown whether the hurricane is the cause. The extreme weather also claimed five lives in the clean-up the following days. Now the Nyheim couple are getting ready to face “Ingunn”, an extreme weather that meteorologists are already comparing to the New Year’s hurricane over 30 years ago. For Kåre and Karin Nyheim, it brings back memories of New Year’s Eve when they had to seek refuge in the basement, while the house disappeared above them. – We just have to secure ourselves and make sure that everything is in the house and securely tied down, and stay down on the floors, says Karin Nyheim about the coming storm. She and her husband have rebuilt their house in the same town. – We can’t do anything about the weather. It will come and we have to get rid of him. This is what their house looked like after the hurricane in 1992: Strongest on Wednesday afternoon Extreme weather “Ingunn” hits northern parts of Vestland, Møre and Romsdal, Trøndelag and Nordland from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday morning. – The strongest gusts of wind at extreme level, i.e. fifth level, are expected around Stad and north to Nordland. – There could be very big consequences from and including Wednesday afternoon, says meteorologist Susanna Reuder. The wind is expected to move north towards Møre and Romsdal, Trøndelag and Nordland throughout the evening. The night to Thursday calms down a bit, before it blows up to a strong storm towards a hurricane on the coast of Møre and Romsdal and Trøndelag, from the morning until early morning. – It is dangerous to be outside, actually. Unusually large damage is expected to buildings, infrastructure, forests, power grids, says Reuder further. State meteorologist Unni Nilssen also points out the seriousness to NTB: – As far as I can see, it seems to be the same wind direction as in 1992, so then you can draw some parallels to that. Both the strength of the wind gust and the parts of the land affected are the same. Extreme weather “Ingunn” is expected on Wednesday afternoon. Photo: Meteorological Institute Sigurd Reksnes, mayor of Stad municipality, remembers the New Year’s storm over 30 years ago well. – We sincerely hope that we do not get such conditions this time. We follow the weather very closely, and introduce measures as we see it develop, he says. He still believes that they are better prepared for storms now. – I think we are bid to the best of our ability. We have been able to learn from both the New Year’s hurricane in 1992 and other extreme weather such as “Dagmar” and “Tor”. Closes kindergartens and schools Several kindergartens and children’s and youth schools in both Vestland and Møre and Romsdal will remain closed on Wednesday due to the storm. These schools are closed on Wednesday Møre and Romsdal All secondary schools in Møre and Romsdal are closed. Plans are being made for online teaching. Sula municipality closes the schools, but they are still open for stays during the school term. After-school care and kindergartens are open as normal. Giske junior high school. There is still room for parents who need to have their children at school and after-school care to report to the municipality on Tuesday evening. The children’s and youth schools in Ålesund. There is still room for parents who need to have their children at school and after-school care to report to the municipality on Tuesday evening. Molde municipality closes all children’s and youth schools. The schools in Haram municipality are closing. The schools in Sunndal are closed because the school bus has been cancelled. The schools in Surnadal are closed due to canceled school transport. The schools in Tingvoll municipality are closed due to canceled school transport. The schools on Sandsøy and Kvamsøy in Sande are closed. Vartdal school in Ørsta is closed. The schools in Sula are closed. The schools in Sykkylven are closed. Vestland All schools and kindergartens in Måløy. Schools and kindergartens in the outer district of Stad municipality. All schools in Bremanger municipality except for the schools and kindergartens in Ålfoten and Davik. Updated 30.01.23, at 22.00. All the secondary schools in Møre and Romsdal are closed. – We do not want to expose our pupils and staff to the exposure that could be, especially when they are going home when the weather is going to be at its worst, says Erik Brekken. The students must have online teaching instead. Photo: Roar Strøm In Møre and Romsdal, many municipalities nevertheless open their doors so that children can come to school. One of these municipalities is Ålesund. – We have people who have socially critical jobs, and in order for them to get to work with small children, it is important that they have a safe place to be, says mayor Håkon Lykkebø Strand in Ålesund. Affects the Danish boat Both Color Line and Fjordline cancel departures as a result of the storm. Fjordline is setting up two departures to and from Bergen. This applies to Bergen-Stavanger at 1.30pm on Wednesday and Stavanger-Bergen on Thursday morning at 7am. Newspaper Varden reports that trips between Larvik and Hirtshals and Kristiansand and Hirtshals are canceled on Wednesday evening. According to the website of Color Line, the morning departures go as planned. Helse Førde: Increasing ambulance readiness Ambulance manager at Helse Førde Stian Sægrov says that Helse Førde is on normal alert, but is monitoring the situation closely. They have increased ambulance readiness in the municipalities of Kinn, Bremanger and Stad, where the storm is expected to hit the hardest. In addition, Helse Førde has asked the state administrator to look into the possibility of moving coast guard vessels to Nordfjord. – Some of the planned ambulance missions will also go out on Wednesday. We saw them again on Thursday. They also raise the threshold for ambulance missions, which means that less important missions can be cancelled. – We are prepared for the fact that there will probably be no air traffic in parts of the county and that some ferry lines will be closed so that car transport will take longer. Ambulance chief Stian Sægrov Photo: Marie Stafsnes Osland / news Electricity may disappear The crisis management in Kinn municipality strongly urges residents in the northern part of the municipality to prepare for longer outages of electricity and mobile telephony and to stay at home if they do not have to go out. This is what Kinn municipality wrote in a press release on Tuesday evening. Also in Bremanger municipality, mayor Anne Kristin Førde urges residents to be prepared for the power to disappear. – We just have to expect that the power will disappear if the storm comes, so charge mobile phones, electric cars if you have them, she says. Can affect air traffic None of Widerøe’s flight departures have been canceled in advance on Tuesday evening, says communications manager Katarina Sollie in Widerøe. – Should there be strong winds, preferably in combination with smooth runways, you have to make a decision then and there whether it is within the conditions that allow us to operate with safe aviation. County road manager Ole Jan Tønnesen says bridges and stretches of road will probably be closed on Wednesday, especially in outer parts of Møre and Romsdal. Roads may be closed due to trees or other obstacles in the roadway. Tønnesen asks everyone to follow the advice that comes and to take the warnings that come in seriously.
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Lost their house in the New Year’s storm in 1992 – now the couple is counting on “Ingunn” to strike – news Vestland
