Thousands evacuated in Norway after river overflows
Copenhagen, Aug 9 (EFE).- Thousands of people in southern Norway were evacuated Wednesday due to flooding caused by overflowing river waters because of a storm that has swept northern Europe in recent days.
Dozens of roads have been cut off by landslides and floods, as well as several stretches of railroad, including the one linking Oslo to the capital’s airport, said Norwegian authorities, who have mobilized helicopters to help in evacuation efforts.
“We are in a crisis situation of national dimensions. People are isolated in local communities and emergency services are at risk of not reaching people who need help,” Aud Hove, governor of Innlandet County, said in a statement.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, who visited several of the affected areas, described the situation as “very serious” and stressed that “no person, municipality or county will be alone, Norwegian society will be with them”.
The Braskereidfoss power station in Våler has also been evacuated, due to water overflowing the dam and has begun to enter the inside of the station, for which the police and the army are considering controlled partial detonations.
The Norwegian authorities have not reported for the moment of fatalities due to the storm.
A meteorological red alert declared in several counties in Norway is also in effect in some areas of neighboring Sweden, although the situation has improved compared to Tuesday.
Heavy rainfall had caused a train between Iggesund and Hudiksvall to derail on Monday, although there were only three minor injuries, and on Tuesday the water supply was partially closed in Gothenburg after the river Göta overflowed.
The bad weather that has been plaguing northern Europe has caused two fatalities in Lithuania, where a woman died from a falling tree, and in eastern Latvia, where a man died from injuries suffered in similar circumstances. EFE
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