SHARE
COPY LINK

LANDSLIDE

Evacuees returning after massive landslide

Evacuees have begun returning home after a landslide forced them to flee their homes outside Trondheim on Sunday.

Evacuees returning after massive landslide
Håvard Kjelstad (Photo: Ned Alley/Scanpix)

Fifty people fled from a rural area bordering Norway's third largest city on Sunday because of a massive landslide. By Monday morning, 22 people had returned to their homes. No casualties have been reported.

Local farmer Håvard Kjelstad didn't yet know on Sunday evening when he would be given the all clear to return. His farm is located a couple of hundred metres below the landslide.

"The cats and hens will have to look after themselves for a while," he told news agency NTB. 

Police evacuated several farms after the landslide struck just south of the city in central Norway.

The river of muddy black sludge stretching about a kilometre was moving through the area and geologists were sent up in a helicopter to evaluate the danger.

Meteorologists said unusually warm December weather may have contributed to the landslide, with media speculating that a violent storm across Scandinavia late last month, which dumped massive amounts of rain on Trondheim, may have been the trigger.

"Most people have got out in their own cars or have been bussed out," Kyllo said. "I think a helicopter was used at one farm to help the evacuation process."

No one was reported missing and no houses or farms were swept away by the sea of mud.

The affected area is on a rural peninsula and there was no danger the landslide could affect the densely populated centre of the city of Trondheim itself, which is home to nearly 200,000 people.

Rune Petter Vikan, whose farm is located about 500 metres from the edge of the landslide, told public broadcaster NRK that he was not worried that his farm would be hit.

"Not really, but we don't have any control over what is happening. It's not a fun situation, since more can suddenly go. We just don't know," he said.

A reporter with the local Addresseavisen said families in the area had jumped into their cars with a few possessions before speeding off.

"They obviously had only had time to grab a few things in the rush to get out. I saw one family with small kids just grabbing a pack of diapers as they left," Håvard Jensen told the paper.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

TRAVEL

Today in Norway: A roundup of the latest news on Tuesday 

Find out what's going on in Norway on Tuesday with The Local's short roundup of important news.

Today in Norway: A roundup of the latest news on Tuesday 
Oslo Operahus .Photo by Arvid Malde on Unsplash

Only one in ten Norwegians plan to travel abroad this summer 

Around ten percent of people in Norway are planning to take a holiday abroad this summer, according to a survey carried out by tourism organisation NHO Reiseliv.

Seven out of ten respondents said they still plan to holiday in Norway this year, even if they receive a vaccination before the holidays start.

READ MORE: ‘My arguments didn’t matter’: How I ended up in a hotel quarantine in Norway 

Viken and Vestland are this year’s most popular travel destinations for Norwegians planning a “staycation”. Young people were the most likely to want to remain in Norway this summer. Just under half of those aged between 18 and 29 said they wished to stay in Norway this summer. 

Third of Utøya survivors have received abuse or threats

A third of Utøya survivors have been victims of hate speech or received threats, according to a new survey. 

Three-quarters of respondents said that the reason they received the abuse was linked directly to the Utøya terror attack, the Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Studies (NKVTS) found. 

The massacre on Utøya was the second of two terror attacks carried out by Anders Breivik on July 22nd, 2011. Of the 69 people who died in the attack, 32 were under the age of 18. 

Fewer in Oslo willing to ditch cars 

A climate survey carried out by the city of Oslo has shown that fewer people than before are willing to cut back on using their cars. The proportion of those who think that Oslo city centre should be car-free has fallen to 45 percent from 52 percent last year. 

READ ALSO: Could Norway introduce mandatory inbuilt car breathalysers 

When asked whether Oslo City Council had gone too far in removing cars from the city centre, almost half said that they believed that this was the case. 

“A change in the attitude around these measures may be due to more people feeling dependent on cars during the pandemic. There has been a lot of debate about measures that have been introduced or are planned to be introduced,” Heidi Sørensen, Director of the Climate Agency, told the Dagsavisen newspaper

Tighter Coronavirus measures in Trondheim 

Gyms, museums and swimming pools have been closed, and alcohol service in hospitality has been stopped in Trondheim. The new measures come barely a week after restrictions were last tightened. 

“We need to shut down most of Trondheim to get control. It is only days since we last tightened measures, but we are in a situation where we must take even stronger action,” Morten Wolden, the municipal director for Trondheim, told state broadcaster NRK.

Norway reports 292 new Covid-19 cases

On Monday, 292 new coronavirus infections were registered in Norway. This is a drop of 52 compared to the seven-day average of 344. 

In Oslo, 48 cases were recorded, an increase of two on the capital’s seven day average of 46. 

The R-number or reproduction rate in Norway is currently 1.0. This means that every ten people that are infected, will, on average, only infect another ten people, indicating that the infection level is stable. 

Total number of Covid-19 cases so far. Source: NIPH
SHOW COMMENTS