Facing me new floods and evacuations is located today Norwayas rivers overflowedwith their level exceeding the highest point in decades due to heavy rainfall at the beginning of the week.

More than 4,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in southern Norway, according to local authorities. Almost half of them resided in Henefos, located about 40 kilometers northwest of Oslo.

Strong winds, torrential rain and landslides hit the country earlier this week, knocking out power in many areas and paralyzing public transport. Yesterday, Wednesday, a hydroelectric dam collapsed into a river and on Monday a train derailed in neighboring Sweden when floodwaters washed away an embankment.

Many roads remained closed and train services were canceled across much of southern Norway today. Authorities warned that although the rain had stopped, further flooding was possible as water flowed towards coastal areas at a lower elevation. “Flooding will probably be a problem for two to three more days,” said Ingvild Vila, a meteorologist at the Norwegian Meteorological Institute (NMI).

Unlike most of the bad weather that hits Norway, coming from the west, this one arrived from the east, when two low barometric pressures joined together and intensified as they approached Scandinavia, the NMI explained. According to the institute, the data shows that rainfall has increased by about 18% in the last century, with the largest increase recorded in the last 30-40 years.

Jana Silman, director of research at the Oslo Center for International Climate Research, said extreme weather events such as this week’s torrential rains will become more frequent as the planet warms. “Global warming warms the atmosphere, and a warmer atmosphere can move more water, and that’s why there’s this strong relationship between a warmer climate and more precipitation,” said Shillman, who co-authors the UN expert panel’s reports. climate.