The torrential rains from Storm Hans caused a dam on Norway’s largest river to partially collapse last Wednesday, allowing water to flood through a hole in the structure, as reported by Reuters.
Storm Hans tore through northern Europe on Monday and Tuesday, devastating the Baltic and Nordic countries with substantial floods, power outages, and transportation hiccups.
The Wednesday collapse of the Braskereidfoss hydroelectric dam on the Glma River, the longest river in Norway, had the greatest impact on the southeast.
As rivers in Norway surged to their greatest level in at least 50 years, submerging homes and businesses or causing landslides to demolish them, over three thousand individuals had to be evacuated. As flooding broke the banks of rivers, important roads were closed, and rail service was interrupted throughout large portions of southern Norway.
Additional flooding was anticipated for the rest of the week despite dryer weather. On Friday, authorities were considering whether to evacuate even more residents in southeastern Norway, the Associated Press announced. Last week, the Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said authorities were mobilizing all day and all night.
The Benga River spilled its banks, causing the town of Hoenefossen to experience the worst flooding last week. As a result, authorities are considering moving more residents downstream in case of landslides. Hoenefossen’s emergency coordinator, Magnus Niholm, told Norway’s NRK that they were anticipating things to come up with the best decision possible.
The Water Resources and Energy Directorate’s Ivar Berthling predicted that the water levels near Hoenefossen will continue to rise at least through Monday.
Prime Minister Gahr Støre, who inspected one of the affected villages last Friday, noted how serious the situation is and how evacuations were challenging for locals, especially the children. He also emphasized that “no person, municipality, or county will be alone. Norwegian society will be with them.”
Norwegian authorities have not released the total number of people evacuated across the country. According to rough calculations, the damage from landslides and flooding could total 1 billion kroner or over $100 million US.
Currently, no storm-related fatalities have been confirmed by the Norwegian authorities.
