Extre­me wea­ther in Lon­gye­ar­by­en (II): evacua­ti­on held upright

Extre­me wea­ther with strong winds and a lot of pre­ci­pi­ta­ti­on has held Lon­gye­ar­by­en in awe during the night from Mon­day to Tues­day. The­re was a fear for lands­li­des from steep and lar­ge­ly water-satu­ra­ted slo­pes near are­as with living hou­ses and infra­struc­tures. Seve­ral roads were clo­sed and a num­ber of hou­ses were evacua­ted Mon­day after­noon.

The­re have been seve­ral minor lands­li­des, but no dama­ge except from com­pa­ra­tively minor dama­ge to a dog yard near Lon­gye­ar­by­en. The dogs in ken­nels at risk had been moved to other ken­nels befo­re, all ani­mals are well and safe.

On the coast bet­ween the cam­ping site and Bjørn­da­len, coas­tal ero­si­on is incre­asing due to high water and surf on unfro­zen ground. Seve­ral cab­ins and parts of the roads are at risk and likely to get lost on the long term.

The admi­nis­tra­ti­on, howe­ver, has deci­ded to keep evacua­tions upright until fur­ther noti­ce. Slo­pe pro­ces­ses take their time, and the­re is still a risk of lands­li­des. Peo­p­le are asked to stay away from steep ter­rain.

The mark­ed parts of Lon­gye­ar­by­en are curr­ent­ly (Novem­ber 7) clo­sed due to the extre­me wea­ther. Map © Sys­sel­man­nen på Sval­bard.

Source: Sys­sel­man­nen

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