Flooding leads to landslides and evacuations in Norway

Extreme weather-related flooding in southern Norway has led to numerous landslides and the evacuation of hundreds of people.

In the province of Innlandet north of Oslo, 16 landslides and six floods were reported during the night, the police said on Wednesday morning.

More than 600 people were brought to safety. No personal injuries were reported so far. However, the situation remains confusing and chaotic. Many roads have been closed, the police said.

A dramatic situation developed on Wednesday at the Braskereidfoss hydroelectric plant about 120 kilometres north-east of Oslo after water entered the actual power station there, causing major damage.

The police, in consultation with bomb experts and the military, were checking whether blasting was necessary to bring the situation under control.

On Wednesday afternoon, they announced that it had been decided to wait and see for the time being and not to take any action.

Live footage from the NRK radio station showed masses of water sweeping away several trees next to the power plant and also causing part of the dam to collapse.

Elsewhere in the Scandinavian country, emergencies and evacuations were also reported.

Large parts of the village of Nesbyen were under water. In the town of Ringerike, people were to be evacuated from several areas due to flooding of the river Storelva, the head of operations told the newspaper Dagbladet that about 1,000 people were involved.

Hundreds more people were evacuated in other municipalities, according to the NTB news agency. In Hemsedal, a mobile home was caught in the waters and it slammed into a bridge shortly afterwards, destroying it completely.

The storm dubbed Hans had first hit Sweden in the past few days and shortly afterwards also Norway.

On Wednesday, meteorologists warned of further rainfall in parts of southern Norway. The amount of rain expected for the evening is not extreme, but given the conditions in the region, its impact could be significant, the country's meteorological institute estimated.

Hans also caused damage in Sweden and, to a lesser extent, in Denmark.

Elsewhere in Europe, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited Slovenia after it was hit by devastating floods earlier in the week.

She flew in a helicopter with Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob over the worst-hit areas in the north of the EU country, the news portal 24ur.com reported.

Afterwards, in the capital Ljubljana, she held out the prospect of rapid aid of up to €400 million ($439 million).

Prior to this announcement, von der Leyen and Golob landed by helicopter in the village of Črna na Koroškem near the border with Austria.

The commission president talked to civilian protectors and victims of the flood disaster, TV pictures showed. She offered words of encouragement to a woman whose house had been damaged by a landslide.

"It was heartbreaking to see the destruction caused by rain, floods and landslides," she said at the press conference in Ljubljana afterwards.

At least 10,000 houses had been destroyed, and 10,000 families were in need, Golob stressed.

"I am here today to let the Slovenian people know that they are not alone," von der Leyen said.

The commission president announced that the EU would provide up to €400 million from its Solidarity Fund - €100 million of which would be made available this year.

In addition, Slovenia could apply for up to €2.7 billion from the coronavirus fund, but this would have to be applied for by the end of August because of the tight deadlines, she said.

Another €3.3 billion could be used by the country through redeployment from EU cohesion funds to get reconstruction under way, she added.

Continuing heavy rains caused rivers and water bodies to overflow in Slovenia starting from last Friday. Floods and landslides caused enormous damage. Villages were evacuated, roads and railway tracks were under water, hundreds of bridges were swept away and businesses destroyed.

Golob estimated the damage at several billion euros.