Norway

Many roads still blocked by avalanches

In the county of Møre og Romsdal a dozen roads were Wednesday morning still closed by avalanches, and the county has been completely isolated as far as road traffic is concerned.

This has created problems for the export industry in the region, both furniture makers and seafood producers, which relay mostly on road transport for bringing their wares quickly to the markets.

However, Wednesday morning the clearing crews managed to open one lane on one of the main roads to the south east, up the Romsdal Valley. But the main road between Ålesund and Vestnes/Molde was still closed.

Most schools in the Sunndal region are still closed, aand around 1000 pupils are kept home for the third day running.

Avalanche warnings for the whole region are still high, and the weather forecast for the next couple of days is not favourable.

In the county of Sogn og Fjordane a bus was swept off the road by the blast wave from a large avalanche which barelled down the mountainside about a hundred yards away, and which fortunately did not hit the bus.

All passengers ecaped unharmed when the bus careened off the road into masses of snow.

Source: NRK/Norway Post