Agder: This is the situation. All agencies ask people to leave their cars in Sørlandet tomorrow as well. Kristiansand, Arendal, Risør and Birkenes close schools on Thursday, in Froland several schools are closed. Grimstad, Lillesand and Tvedestrand close for the rest of the week. The same applies to upper secondary schools. The schools from Lillesand and eastwards will also be closed on Friday. There are 1,211 affected customers without electricity in Agder. Last updated at 21.56. The emergency services ask people to call only in case of urgent needs. They are called down. Home security, civil defense and the fire service assist home nursing with the most critical patients. Grimstad evacuates the needy to municipal care homes. The bus lines in Kristiansand were stopped. On Wednesday afternoon, some routes have started up again. Taxi companies say no to customers and prioritize health missions. All trains between Oslo S and Kristiansand are canceled on Thursday 4 January due to the weather conditions. Grocery stores report delivery problems, including with bread. LATEST: The police are asking people to leave their cars parked on Thursday as well – By the end of Thursday, the wind will be considerably less. Then we get a completely different situation, says state meteorologist Pernille Borander. A coastal strip from Kristiansand to Arendal can get up to 15 cm of snow during Wednesday. And the wind force is close to a small gale. – There is not really that much rainfall now. But the wind blows old snow all around, says Borander, who nevertheless cannot promise to calm down properly before Friday. 2 METERS OF SNOW: – We have to do like the northerners. Just leave it alone, says Steen Kristensen, who on Wednesday spent two hours digging himself out of the house in Grimstad. Photo: MIRIAM GROV / news – Leave the car parked The weather forecasts mean that people are asked to leave the car parked on Thursday as well. This particularly applies to the E18 between Kristiansand and Tvedestrand, as well as in the towns along this stretch, the police write. – Many cars on the roads will cause challenges for those who have to clear away all the snow, says section leader at the operations center in Agder police district, John Repstad. Major clean-up work is expected along roads and on footpaths and cycle paths when the storm has calmed down, and this will take time, according to the police. The Norwegian Road Administration says a disturbing number of people chose to drive on Tuesday, despite warnings from the police and the Norwegian Road Administration. – Leave the car if you have no urgent needs. Don’t put yourself or others in a difficult situation, says department director Tore Jan Hansen at Hansen. Check with relatives The Civil Defence, the Red Cross and the fire service assist home nursing in Kristiansand, which does not reach everyone. – We only get out to those addresses where home care is most important, says municipal manager Mette Brevigh Nilsen in Kristiansand. She encourages people to check on their relatives who need help. Nurse Ida Engen carries medicines for patients when she is driven around on a tracked vehicle by the Civil Defence. – It’s good to have help, because not all places make it up. Many did not expect us to be able to come once, she says. Nurse Ida Engen gets help from the Norwegian Civil Defense to bring medicines to patients. Photo: Per-Kåre Sandbakk / news Operations leader in the Civil Defense Tore Dagfinn Malja, thinks this is very special. – I have been involved in search operations, forest fires and pumping water during floods, but I have never been involved in this before, he says. Sørlandet Hospital states that patients and staff are having trouble getting to the hospitals, but that the situation is otherwise under control. BREAKING JOB: Schools are closed and the police ask people not to use their cars. Over 22,000 pupils On Wednesday it became clear that both Kristiansand, Lillesand, Grimstad, Risør, Tvedestrand and Birkenes will also close their schools on Thursday. Froland is also closing several schools. Grimstad, Lillesand and Tvedestrand extend the closure throughout the week. The decisions affect over 22,000 pupils. – We are unable to prioritize plowing for the schools, says director of education in Kristiansand Kristin Eidet Robstad to news. CLOSED: Kristiansand Cathedral School (KKG) on Wednesday morning. The pupils are kept at home, and work is being done on solutions for teaching via a screen. Photo: Anna Rut Tørressen / news The 13 public secondary schools along the coast from Kristiansand to Risør are also closed on Thursday. Vennesla VGS was open on Wednesday, but will be closed on Thursday. After a crisis meeting, it is clear that Arendal will close schools, kindergartens and sports facilities on Thursday. – We have problems keeping the streets open. After a plowing job, it rains again, says mayor Robert Cornels Nordli. Guardians with socially critical jobs will receive an offer for kindergarten children and the youngest school children. In Kristiansand, all bus lines were canceled on Wednesday morning. Over the course of the afternoon, traffic was gradually opened up on some bus routes. This is what the employees at Stormo in Arendal encountered when they came to work. They found no other solution than to stay closed. Photo: Stormo Arendal Several shops are struggling – We have not been able to open the shop since New Year as a result of the snowfall. We have tried to get help clearing snow, but have now given up. Therefore, we saw no other solution than to remain closed, says general manager Yngvar Aas Hansen at the business Olav Stormo to news. The company has a shop at Strømsbusletta in Arendal where they sell painting equipment and hobby products. In addition, they operate craft services. WEDNESDAY MORNING: More snow, more wind. Snow removal in a neighborhood in Kristiansand after another night of storms. The police urge people not to use the car. Photo: EIRIK DAMSGAARD / news – We have ten employees, but the other nine employees are more or less trapped inside and can’t get out of their houses. The aim is to have the shop cleaned up when the snowfall subsides. It’s quite extreme, laughs Aas Hansen. The delivery problems to stores in Southern Norway are piling up. At Kiwi Torvet in Kristiansand, the bread did not arrive. Tine is also experiencing delivery problems. – We are behind, so we deliver to Vennesla today. We were not able to deliver there yesterday, so we are a day late, says distribution manager for Tine’s plant in Kristiansand, Arthur Felix Bjørnhom, to Fædrelandsvennen. OUT OF THE WINDOW: Here news Sørlandet’s Miriam Grov has to use the window to get out. The police have received calls from people who cannot open the exit door. Photo: PRIVATE Nearly 2,000 without power 1,922 customers have lost power in Agder at 3.30pm, according to the website of Glitre Nett. The police have received calls from people who cannot get out of the house. – They asked for rescue in the area from Arendal to Kristiansand, says police operations manager Audun Eide to Agderposten. He states that several of the callers have got out of windows or other places. Go-Ahead has canceled all train departures between Oslo and Kristiansand on Thursday. THE TRAINS ARE STOPPING: The Sørlandsbanen is canceled between Oslo and Kristiansand. Photo: Tom Nicolai Kolstad / news Providing emergency drivers In Arendal, the Red Cross steps in as emergency drivers for home care. – Home care has small, environmentally friendly cars that are not suitable in this weather, says Per Kyrre Wangberg of Arendal Red Cross to news on Wednesday morning. In this way, volunteers help deliver important health care to distressed residents. – Unfortunately, we only have one four-wheel drive. So we have to make tough priorities, says Wangberg, who received ten phone calls during the night. – People are worried about getting sick, because of all the snow in front of the house. But we must put life and health first. Some took to their skis on their way to work in Kristiansand on Wednesday morning. Photo: Tor Erik Schrøder / NTB Snow-covered streets in Kristiansand. Photo: Tor Erik Schrøder / NTB It was a busy morning for the plow crew in Kristiansand. Photo: Tor Erik Schrøder / NTB Lots of snow on Wednesday morning. Photo: Tor Erik Schrøder / NTB Car covered in snow in the center of Kristiansand. Photo: Tor Erik Schrøder / NTB The train tracks at the station in Kristiansand are covered in snow. Photo: Tor Erik Schrøder / NTB
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Unable to open the schools – news Sørlandet – Local news, TV and radio
