Essentially the most highly effective storm for 30 years has battered massive elements of Central and Northern Norway, affecting energy, transport hyperlinks, and different infrastructure.
Greetings from the excessive seas! Sure, imagine it or not, I’ve spent the previous couple of days crusing up the Norwegian shoreline in a sport of cat and mouse with the extreme climate that has struck Norway these final days.
Simply after midnight on Thursday morning, we docked and dropped anchor in Bodø along with a number of different vessels, only a few hours earlier than the worst of the storm struck Bodø.
Watching the Storm from Bodø
I am on the ship Havila Polaris on the Norwegian coastal route. Most Hurtigruten and Havila ships have been impacted over the previous couple of days, with some cancelling large elements of the route or just staying in port.
Here’s a fast video I took this morning, to offer you a really feel for the situations:
We’ve been crusing between two storms, leaving Ålesund and Molde on Tuesday night time earlier than the worst climate arrived on Wednesday, and crusing on to Bodø.
That meant lacking Trondheim and 5 different ports, however most significantly it meant arriving in Bodø safely earlier than the storm.
Proper now I am sat within the cafe on Havila Polaris watching and listening to the winds battering the port. There isn’t any means a ship may dock proper now, so it was terrific planning and decision-making from the captain and their crew.
The journey was surprisingly freed from tough seas (apart from the quick areas of open sea) and powerful winds. It is solely know we’re waking as much as the storm in Bodø that some folks perceive why the voyage has been so closely disrupted.
By the way in which, you may observe the progress of my journey on the Norwegian coastal route by following Life in Norway on Instagram.
Bodø Centre Closed
Shortly after I shot the above video, the Norwegian Police issued an alert utilizing the nationwide warning system, which is never used exterior testing durations.
The alert primarily instructed anybody in Bodø metropolis centre to remain indoors, so it is a good job I filmed the video once I did! The climate had by this level taken a flip for the more serious, with snow added in to the combination too.
Through the day, home windows in considered one of Bodø’s taller lodges have been blown out by the storm, amongst different injury.
Norway Lower in Two
Elsewhere in Norway, the storm, named ‘Ingunn’, comes simply days after a earlier storm hit Northern Norway, inflicting widespread disruption. As I perceive it, two or extra climate methods have now mixed alongside the shoreline to create this monster storm that is affecting coastal communities between Bergen and Bodø.
Authorities have urged folks to remain inside until completely obligatory in large elements of coastal Norway. Hurricane-force winds have compelled airways and ferry corporations to cancel departures, and faculties to shut in some areas.
The E6, Norway’s major north-south freeway, is closed over the uncovered Saltfjellet mountain in Nordland, successfully slicing the nation’s street community in two.
Within the earlier northern storm only a day or two in the past, waves of as much as 20 metres excessive have been recorded in Lofoten. Wind gusts of as much as 40 metres per second have been recorded in a number of locations, whereas one location simply south of Bodø recorded gusts of greater than 64 metres per second.
Flight Disruption
It isn’t simply on the seas the place journey has been disrupted. Excessive winds imply a number of flight departures have been cancelled or severely delayed. The communications supervisor at Widerøe merely mentioned: “The winds are too sturdy.”
Crimson Warning in Place
On the time of writing, a crimson warning stays in place for a lot of the shoreline. It is the best stage of danger given by meteorologists. The recommendation states for anybody within the “crimson” warning space to hunt shelter, and put together your private home for a probably lengthy energy outage.
At current, the forecast appears fairly unsure for the following 24-48 hours, though there may be set to be some enchancment in wind situations later this afternoon. Whether or not we depart Bodø on time or proceed to shelter right here stays to be seen!
I additionally really feel for the organising staff of Bodø 2024, who’re proper now placing the finishes touches to the opening ceremony, which is because of be held in simply a few days. Plainly the specially-built harbour stage didn’t maintain any injury, nevertheless.
