– The Ministry of Justice and Emergency Preparedness must take overall responsibility for providing proper information and notification to everyone who visits Troms. Lyngen mayor Dan-Håvard Johnsen (Sp) demands it. And he will be heard: for Sunday, Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp), Minister of Food and Agriculture Sandra Borch (Sp) and Minister of Fisheries Bjørnar Skjæran (Ap) will visit Tromsø and Lyngen tomorrow to discuss the best possible response after the many landslides in the region last 24 hours. Two foreign ski tourists died in avalanches in Lyngen and Nordreisa on Friday. In both places the weather was very bad. – It was the worst ever on March 31. Visibility was 10 metres, and there are still hundreds of tourists out in the mountains. It indicates that we are not doing a good enough job of prevention. I feel a little powerless, we provide information wherever we have the opportunity, says Johnsen. During the meeting with the three ministers who have been notified on Sunday, it is expected that they will discuss the use of SMS notifications for residents in the area, and the mayor of Kåfjord municipality will also be present. The government ministers will also meet aid crews in Lyngen town hall. The tourists today: – we choose gentler terrain because of the accident news meets the ski tourist Emil who is getting ready to go skiing, less than a day after the fatal avalanche accident on Lyngseidet. He says that the tour group has heard about yesterday’s accident, and that on the basis of this they have chosen a looser terrain than planned. Finnish Emil says that due to the accident yesterday he will choose gentler terrain than originally planned for today’s ski trip. Photo: news The weather is much better today, with sun and changing cloud cover – but the risk of avalanches is just as great. Emil says that they have checked the conditions carefully before going out today, but that they are still going on a trip. He meets news at the exit point close to where the avalanche occurred the day before. – We have chosen to go out here, because here it is less exposed and the slope is below 25 degrees, he says. He says that they are informed about the varsom.no app, as well as other apps that inform about the avalanche danger. He believes that there is better avalanche information for tourists in Norway than in Finland, where he comes from. He says they are happy to be in Lyngen and that, despite the demanding conditions, they would like to return on a skiing holiday here. Tourists are satisfied with the avalanche information German Lukas and Stella, also ski tourists, have heard about the avalanche tragedy the day before which claimed one life, and where one person still has the status of critically injured. Stella and Lukas from Germany say they have been hiking in the Alps since childhood and are well used to making avalanche assessments. Photo: Simen Wingstad / Simen Wingstad/news They also meet news near the mountain Kavringtind. They say that their local host warned them strongly about the avalanche danger today. Nevertheless, they are going on a short ski trip in the mountains, but no longer than a short trip up to the tree line. They were tempted to go further, but decided to turn back because of the avalanche danger and their own. continuous assessments of the snow. They say that all four in the party are very skilled skiers from the Alps, and that they have a lifetime of experience in assessing snow conditions from skiing there. A tour group from Germany prepares to go on a short trip up the mountainside, just one day after a deadly landslide occurred in the same area. Photo: Simen Wingstad / Simen Wingstad/news Lukas also says that they have checked varsom.no and that they are happy that the information is available in English. They also believe that the avalanche information they have received both locally after arriving in Lyngen and online is good and sufficient. Uncertainty about SMS notification Lyngen, which has experienced several fatal avalanches, sent out an SMS to visitors in the municipality before Easter last year about the risk of avalanches. But the municipality has been informed by the Norwegian Data Protection Authority that only state authorities can order the sending of such SMS. According to the mayor, this means that the municipality cannot send out danger SMS to mobile phones in Lyngen on its own. – The way I interpret it, we can’t, says Johnsen. – We have not asked Lyngen municipality to end the project, says Janne Stang Dahl who is director of communications at the Norwegian Data Protection Authority. Photo: Ilja C. Hendel – We have previously written a letter which was sent out to municipalities stating that the regulations stipulate that it is state authorities, for example the police, who decide on SMS notifications for the municipalities. The Norwegian Data Protection Authority has advocated that the ministry should also assess whether municipalities and other public authorities should have such authority, says Stang Dahl. She says there are also exceptions in the regulations when it comes to vital interests, i.e. life and health. In Nordreisa, where the second landslide took place, mayor Hilde Nyvoll states that they have sent out SMS about the danger of landslides, including a reference to check varsom.no. She expressed to news that they had to prioritize safety. Willing to reach out to booking companies On Saturday, the weather has improved, and the sun is shining down on the mountain tops. But the risk of landslides is still great. The Lyngen mayor says there will be 1,000 people in the mountains today. – A chill runs down my spine. Good weather and a high risk of avalanches are the worst combination, says Johnsen. The municipality is now on standby for new landslides. Lyngen welcomes many ski tourists every year. Photo: Torbjørn Krane / news Johnsen believes the avalanche problem must be raised to a national level, in the form of warning systems and attitude-building work. It can also be about reaching out with avalanche information to booking companies that rent out accommodation to tourists. The mayor will request an urgent meeting with the Minister of Justice. news has not yet received any comments from the Ministry of Justice and Emergency Preparedness. The case is updated.
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The mayor of Lyngen demands a national warning service for avalanches – news Troms and Finnmark
