Massive rain, worst flooding on record hits southern Norway

A number of cities located on the southern coast of Norway have been struck by massive rainfall and severe flooding that started on September 30, 2017 and lasted until October 3, forcing people to leave their homes, while around 70 roads have been closed by the Road Administration.

Vest-Agder county was first to be hit by the unfortunate events. Many people of the city of Lyngdal watched helplessly how flood took away their houses, and in hurry fled the town in order to avoid death. Their escape was set back by the fact that the driving conditions were already difficult and a number of main roads were already closed due to the overflow.

The Road Administration stated that they don’t even know the exact number of closed roads, but believe it is close to 70 in the Vest-Agder county. The small community of Dragsholt was nearly destroyed by the flooding of the Tovdals River, which left its mark also on the city of Kristiansand.

One of the evacuated from Dragsholt, Lena Juul, once on dry land spoke to reporters, terrified, explaining how the water was halfway to the ceiling, and that she could only be rescued by boat. Several of others followed her in this survivalist enterprise.

A number of other minor communities in the Vest-Agder County experienced the same destiny, including Jaren, and Farsund and Lista located southwest of Kristiansund and Lindesnes on the eastward side from Kristiansund.

The city itself experienced catastrophic destruction; rivers Tovdals and Otra destroyed every building, home or factory and any other object that stood in their way.

The government agency, Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE), and other city officials issued a number of warnings regarding the severity of the weather and its consequences, including landslides and mudslides, and though the flood was inevitable, the only thing they could do is make sure no life is lost.

In order to do so, the police and other officials turned to their with statements of how dangerous it would be to use cars or any other traffic vehicle since already a number of cars were thrown into the torrent.

When it comes to details of how massive this flood is, according to the NVE, since 1890, when the agency first started keeping data, there are no records of such massive rain levels and floods. According to their reports, around 300 mm (11.8 inches) of rain fell through the weekend until Tuesday, October 3.

The dreadful clouds also seized Telemark, Hordaland and Rogaland counties, causing damage worth hundreds of millions of kroner, but what is more important, people from the affected areas are kept at safe locations.

Featured image credit: Floods in Norway, October 2017. Credit: StenArneBrunsby