A powerful autumn storm swept across southern Norway on Sunday, knocking out electricity for more than 3,000 customers and causing travel disruption on roads across several counties, according to NRK.
The network operator Glitre Nett reported at around eight in the morning that the affected subscribers were mainly in Agder, with others in Lunner municipality in Akershus. Apart from those outages, the national overview map showed only a handful of smaller interruptions.
Why it matters
The storm arrived with heavy rain and strong gusts that affected daily life across a wide stretch of the country's south, from Rogaland in the west to Vestfold and Buskerud in the east. Roads were blocked by fallen trees, several minor traffic accidents were linked to surface water, and rescue services were called out to secure roofs and clear drains.
The Meteorological Institute also issued an orange warning — its second-highest level — for extremely high water levels in Rogaland. NRK reports that the warning is issued when the consequences may be serious for many people. The peak water level is expected from Monday morning, with the highest point forecast for Monday forenoon, though the timing will differ along the coast.
Roads blocked and drivers losing control
In the Oslo police district, which covers the capital as well as Asker and Bærum, operations leader Eirik Sannes told NRK that a lot of rain had fallen and more was forecast through the day. Several minor collisions had already occurred during the morning, and Sannes said much indicated that standing water in the roadway had caused drivers to lose control. He urged road users to adjust their speed and following distance to the conditions.
In Vestfold, Telemark and Buskerud, trees came down across roads in numerous places overnight. Operations leader Roger Aaser of the South-East police district told NRK shortly after seven that the force had received a double-digit number of reports of trees blocking roads, particularly in Vestfold.
One of those jobs took crews to Holmestrand, where a tree had fallen over the E18. Tom Eriksen, of the firm Fjell- og anleggsteknikk, was out on assignment for the road traffic centre and described the work to NRK. He and his colleagues were also dealing with a large build-up of water on the carriageway on national road 354 in Porsgrunn, close to Heidelberg's cement plant in Brevik, where they were trying to get a drain working again to clear the water.
Eriksen compared the conditions with an earlier storm, telling NRK that the previous one had been wilder and windier.
Rescue on the mountain and roofs at risk
On the Vestlandet side, a group of nine hikers asked for help on Sunday morning in the mountains above Kinsarvik and Lofthus. Strong turbulence prevented the rescue helicopter from reaching them. Police logged that the party's position was fairly certain and that their tent had been destroyed, leaving them wet and cold.
The main rescue coordination centre sent a message asking the group to head towards Kinsarvik, while Red Cross crews moved to meet them. A police dog patrol and six Red Cross personnel set off on foot at 08:30. Rescue leader Eivind Bø told NRK that the group was on its way down the mountain and would probably be safely down within about an hour.
On Karmøy, police received a report shortly before three in the morning that sheets of corrugated roofing had blown off a building. Operations leader Rune Tallaksen wrote in the log that the panels came from a municipal industrial building and that the municipality was sending people to the site. A short time later, operations leader Tore Fanebust logged that the fire service was on its way to try to secure the loose sheets, adding that it was blowing hard in the area.
In Grenland, fire and rescue incident commander Kathrine Ånestad told NRK about several call-outs during the morning. One came from a homeowner worried that the roof was about to blow off the house; crews attended and helped secure it. Ånestad also said a stream had burst its banks at Svanvikvegen outside Porsgrunn, where several drains were blocked, and that firefighters had been at the scene to assist.
Along the coast, the wind was strong enough to draw onlookers. NRK spoke to Chris Lithun, who was at Teie boat harbour on Nøtterøy in Færder municipality on Sunday morning to secure his boat. Another person at the harbour said they had come to watch the waves and look for good pictures.
The wind warning for Rogaland — a yellow-level alert for locally strong gusts of 27 to 37 metres per second from the south-east — had been in force from Saturday evening into Sunday morning.
What to watch
Forecasters expect more rain over Oslo and the surrounding region through Sunday, and the high-water warning for Rogaland points to Monday morning as the critical period, so coastal conditions in the south-west are likely to remain the main concern into the start of the week.
