Norway: Thousands of evacuees and extensive damage from flooding

The Norwegian Prime Minister visited the affected areas where stretches of road and railway lines were cut off by floods and landslides

Thousands of people have been evacuated this Wednesday in southern Norway due to the floods caused by the overflow of river waters due to the storm that has affected northern Europe in recent days.

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Dozens of provincial highways and several national roads have been cut off by landslides and floods, as have several sections of railway, such as the one that connects Oslo with the capital’s airport, reported the Norwegian authorities, who have mobilized more 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, the governor of Innlandet County, said in a statement.

The 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 is going to be alone, Norwegian society is going to be with them”.

The Braskereidfoss power plant in Våler (south) has also been evacuated, due to the fact that the masses of water overflow the dam and have begun to enter the interior of the station, for which reason the Police and the Army are studying carrying out controlled partial detonations. .

The Norwegian authorities have so far not reported fatalities due to the storm, baptized ‘Hans’ in the Scandinavian countries.

The red meteorological alert declared in several Norwegian counties is also maintained in some area of ​​neighboring southern Sweden, although the situation has improved compared to Tuesday.

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