Strong winds approaching hurricane force slammed into Northern Norway, Trøndelag and as far south as Lillehammer and Femund on Saturday. They left lots of destruction and disruption in their wake.
The storm hit hardest in Troms and Nordland counties, where the state highway department (Statens vegvesen) was warning motorists against driving in the midst of the Christmas-New Year holidays. Several tunnels were without power and lighting, including the Nessett tunnel and the Finneidfjord tunnel on the main E6 highway. The E6 over Saltfjellet was closed.
Most ferries were also cancelled including those running between Bodø on the mainland and Moskenes on Lofoten, and on to the islands of Værøy and Røst. They were due to resume service when the winds were predicted to die down on Sunday.
Bodø was among cities hit the hardest after what had been an otherwise mild “green Christmas” over most of the country. The powerful wind gusts tore the roof off a large condominium complex in Bodø, with remnants slamming onto balconies and cars parked below. One resident told state broadcaster NRK that his car was badly damaged, “but I’m thinking most about my neighbours who lost their roof.”
Tens of thousands of homes and businesses lost electricity after trees blew down over power lines, and that also knocked out base stations for mobile phone service. Telenor reported that around 11 percent of their base stations were rendered inoperable, disrupting mobile phone service.
The storm also forced closure of most mountain passes in Southern Norway as well, and the Bergensbanen train line connecting Oslo and Bergen was closed between the popular mountain skiing and resort areas of Geilo and Ål because of power disruption.
The storm blew in after a lengthy period of unusually warm weather all over Norway. Temperatures are now falling and state meteorologists were warning of blizzards in the days to come in Troms and Nordland, while conditions were hazardous also much farther south. Trees blew down in Lillehammer, thousands lost power in the popular ski centers at Trysil and there were also outages in Ringsaker, Våler, Åmot and Åsnes as the storm blew east into Sweden.
NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund
