Norway is a weather-resistant country, and the last few days have shown that landslides can hit hard and in new areas. – Some of the landslides happened in places where it was impossible to know if they would happen, we must learn from that and send precise warnings nationally. That’s what Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said when he visited Helgemorgen today. Now he wants a review of routines for notifying the population. – We have to go through the routines for what is notified, and how. We have the technological opportunity, so we will get this in place, says the Prime Minister. At the same time, the Prime Minister pointed out that the municipalities have the opportunity to send out SMS with warnings about dangers locally. In recent days, the debate has been about whether these SMS should come from national or local authorities. Earlier this year, the government launched an emergency notification service via SMS. Nevertheless, parts of the guidelines regarding the use of such SMS are unclear. Today, three ministers are visiting Lyngen to meet the affected mayors in Karlsøy, Lyngen and Nordreisa who were hit by three different landslides on Friday that claimed four lives. Minister of Justice and Emergency Preparedness Emilie Mehl (Sp), Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Bjørnar Skjæran (Ap) in addition to Minister of Agriculture and Food Sandra Borch (Sp) will meet the mayors and support crews, and discussing avalanche safety will be one of the program items. Mayor in landslide municipality: – We are in a difficult situation Lyngen mayor Dan-Håvard Johnsen has, following the landslides on Friday, demanded a clearer set of regulations for how the municipalities should be able to notify residents and visitors. There have been many landslides in the north in recent days. In three of these landslides, four lives have been lost. Illustration photo from varsom.no. Photo: Screenshot from Varsom Regobs / Varsom Regobs Johnsen describes that mayors in landslide-prone municipalities are in an impossible bind. On the one hand, they warmly welcome more and more tourists, on the other hand, they feel responsible for the safety of the guests. – I feel very burdened by this responsibility. We will continue to be one of the world’s finest ski destinations, but at the same time it is completely unsustainable that people continue to lose their lives in avalanches here, he says. Lyngen municipality is visited annually by thousands of tourists seeking great or extreme nature experiences in the Lyngen Alps. On Friday, the small local community was again hit by an avalanche accident, which took one life, and where another still has the status of critically injured. Johnsen is now calling for an overarching, national strategy and a zero vision for deaths in avalanches, in the same way as in traffic. Mayor of Lyngen, Dan Håvard Johnsen is calling for an overarching, national strategy for warning of landslides. Photo: Rune Nordgård Andreassen There are different practices in the municipalities on how to send out warnings to visitors and residents in the event of an avalanche risk, and Johnsen believes that there can be too much varying information when the responsibility for warnings lies at municipal level. – In the last few days I myself have received SMS from both Skjervøy and Nordreisa, there is a danger of people being spammed with information, he says. In addition, Johnsen believes there should be a greater focus on training certified guides. He is supported by an avalanche researcher in CARE, the competence center for avalanches at UiT Norway’s Arctic University, Audun Hetland. Landslide researcher: – More guides must be trained. Hetland believes knowledge about landslides is the most important thing you can do to ensure that people are safe in the mountains. – Today there are just over 100 internationally certified Norwegian guides. There should certainly have been room for many more, but the mountain science school that trains mountain guides is struggling with funding, says Hetland. Hetland also points to the demanding fact that many foreign tourists come with good avalanche knowledge from their countries, or bring their own guides who have little expertise in Norwegian conditions. – With an SMS you have access to the right information, says avalanche researcher Audun Hetland Photo: Truls Alnes Antonsen/news / Truls Alnes Antonsen/news He believes these challenges can be reduced by educating more Norwegians: – Getting onto a new local snow cover is difficult even for the very smartest. If we can train more Norwegian guides, we have a greater offer for those who come without a guide, as well as colleagues to discuss with for those who come with international guides, Hetland believes. Both Hetland and Johnsen believe that the answer does not lie in traffic bans, but in gaining knowledge and changing attitudes. – It must always be up to the visitors to make their own assessments. But we must have an overall strategy for how we get information out to the visitors, says Johnsen.
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Støre says the notification routines after the avalanche accidents in the north must be reviewed – news Troms and Finnmark
