Record winds create havoc in Norway
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Norway’s most powerful storm in more than three decades ripped off roofs, heightened avalanche risks, canceled flights and cut power as it raged in parts of the Scandinavian country Thursday.
Hurricane-force winds brought gusts of up to 112 miles per hour in some places. A new national wind speed record of 121.7 miles per hour was recorded locally early Thursday on the island of Soemma, the Norwegian Meteorological Institute said.
Near Laerdal, a small, picturesque town northeast of Bergen, Norway’s second-largest city, a bus with 14 passengers was blown off a road, though no injuries were reported, police said.
Some areas flooded, and airlines and ferry operators suspended service. There were scattered reports of closed schools, roads, tunnels and bridges because of strong wind, rain and snow. An estimated 12,000 households were without power.
Hurricane-strength gusts were also reported overnight in Sweden. The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute issued a red warning, its highest alert, for the western part of the Norrbottens district, which borders Norway. Local media reported that schools shut down in the Swedish town of Kiruna.
The storm, named Ingunn by Norwegian meteorologists, landed in central Norway on Wednesday afternoon before moving north Thursday.