Residents on alert following Norway landslides

More than 20 Norwegians are not yet able to return to their homes following massive landslides near Trondheim on Sunday.

About 50 people were evacuated from the area after the huge slides coincided with the arrival of the new year following severe storms that swept across the region. The slides covered a huge piece of farmland in Byneset, Trøndelag, which contained several houses. It pulled pieces of buildings and residents’ belongings down by tens of metres.

With ongoing severe weather in the area, geologists say that it isn’t yet safe for some of the area’s inhabitants to return home, although many are holding out hope of being able to do so today.

Geologists have not yet been able to agree on an exact cause of the phenomenon, however one told the Norwegian Broadcasting Agency (NRK) that it might have been a result of the recent storms’ effects on the unstable clay characteristic of the area.

Kari Øvrelid from the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate told NRK reporters on Monday, “We’re not at all certain that the slide is over. We need to keep monitoring this”. She added, however, that the risk of further slides had been reduced but that 22 people would likely not be returning home until at least the middle of this week.

Meanwhile, local authorities say that flooding is now becoming a concern because of the large quantities of earth that have been washed away, which could now block local creeks and waterways.