Sara Erfjord and Aleksander Orvik packed the car on Thursday morning to get home from the cabin at Hovden in Agder. They would be early when they had to go home with their three-month-old baby, Elliot, and grandmother Susann Erfjord. The weather forecast for Agder showed an orange danger warning, with heavy snowfall and strong winds. The trip back to Erfjord should normally take around two and a half hours. But that was not the case this time. It was Stavanger Aftenblad that first mentioned the arduous homecoming. Trailer blocked the road The storm that had been reported had just begun when the family arrived at the Haukelitunnelen, and they had to wait half an hour for the convoy to drive. Afterwards, they were told again that they had to expect to wait up to another hour, as the Haukeliekspressen bus had to be given priority. Little did they know that they would be sitting for almost ten hours inside the tunnel. The hours began to pass. The baby went from lap to lap. The weather got worse and worse. – A trailer had got stuck in the road. In addition, several cars came and got stuck behind it. We couldn’t get any further and now the storm had started to blow up properly, says mother Sara Erfjord. Sara Erfjord and three-month-old Elliot Erfjord Olsvik. Photo: private Road closed Around southern Norway, the weather also started to cause major problems, such as traffic accidents, closed roads and power outages. The traffic center reported at 19.45 on Thursday that the E134 Haukelifjell was closed due to storms. But by then the family had been sitting in the tunnel for almost six hours already, waiting for the trailer and cars to be recovered. The baby and the family were now in their sixth hour in the car. But even though they were trapped in the tunnel, the family kept calm. – It went very well, it was a bit boring of course. But we had plenty of food and warmth in the car, so it went well. This is what it looked like on the roads on Thursday evening when the family was going home from the cabin at Hovden. Photo: Privat Didn’t get home When the clock began to approach midnight, almost ten hours later, they were finally allowed to drive on. But the next stage would also prove to present challenges. After only a quarter of an hour on the road, they could not get any further, when they encountered a large snowdrift that had passed a short time before. – We had little hope that it could perhaps be plowed away. But because of the crowd and the wind, we and all the other cars had to turn around and travel back to Røldal, says father Aleksander Olsvik. Elliot was allowed to sit on his lap for many hours. Photo: private All around Røldal, the hotels had filled up, and it looked dark to find a place to spend the night. On Facebook, a request was made for help with shelter. On Facebook, help was requested to find shelter for the family and the others who were stuck. Photo: Screenshot / facebook – We contacted the Red Cross, who were very helpful. One even offered to house us in his home for the night! But before they got that far, they were told that Hordatun Hotel had a free room for the family. By then the clock had begun to approach three in the morning. On Friday at 1.30 p.m., the trip, which should have taken two and a half hours, was finally finished. Despite the bad events, the family was still in good spirits. – It was done with a night in a hotel, hotel breakfast and that everyone was safe. The map shows the Haukelitunellen where the family was stuck, Røldal where they had to spend the night and Erfjord where they live.
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Sara and Aleksander were stuck in the tunnel for nearly ten hours due to storms – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
