Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes and a power station was flooded by the heavy rains that hit Norway, the country’s authorities announced today Wednesday.

“We are living a crisis of national proportions”, said Aud Hove, head of Inlandan province in the southern part of the Nordic country, one of the areas hardest hit by the floods and landslides. Due to the bad weather, traffic problems occurred on 115 roads.

“We need help from the whole society. Today is when we will succeed or fail,” he said.

“We have never seen such high levels waters in many rivers. Forecasts show that the flooding of major rivers will continueErik Holmqvist, an official at the Energy and Water Agency, told VG newspaper.

Seven helicopters have been deployed to help evacuate residents, the government said.

“There are many people who were displaced from their homes (…) and enormous material damage. The situation is very difficult in much of the country,” warned the Minister of Justice and Public Safety, Emily Enger Mel.

The Brasksreidfoss hydroelectric station, located on the banks of the Gloma River, the largest in the country, was flooded by the bad weather.

Norwegian electricity supplier Hafslund reported that due to a grid failure, the dam’s generators stopped working at dawn.

The rains flooded the facilities, causing serious material damage, Hafslund said in a statement.

Due to storm Hans, Norway and Sweden are faced with heavy rains that have caused floods and landslides