The precipitation will continue through Sunday, says Linus Karlsson, meteorologist at SMHI.
On Saturday, SMHI issued several warnings about high flows as a result of rain and snow. And it turned out as feared. In the areas where SMHI issued warnings, there were large amounts of precipitation, according to Linus Karlsson.
Along the coast, we see that there has been a varied form of precipitation, with both rain and snow.
According to preliminary data from SMHI, Lövånger, between Umeå and Skellefteå, was the worst hit. There came 65.2 millimeters. Nora Östanö above Härnösand was second worst affected; 60.7 millimeters.
– I suspect that it has been quite wet, because some precipitation has also fallen as rain, says Linus Karlsson.
“Many water damaged houses”
The rescue service in Sundsvall, Timrå and Härnösand had a difficult situation during yesterday as a result of the rainfall. Between 3pm in the afternoon and midnight it was at its worst.
– We probably had a total of about 40 incidents that we were involved in, says Niclas von Essen, officer on duty at the Mittnorrland rescue service.
He continues:
There are many water-damaged houses in the Härnösand area, but I dare not estimate exactly how many.
In order to catch up, socially important infrastructure such as power stations and drinking water intakes were prioritized. Villas and other privately owned properties had to stand back. On Sunday night and morning, no new alarms related to high flows were received.
– But I suspect that the alarms to us will increase now that people wake up and start looking at what happened to their houses, says Niclas von Essen, at 9 o’clock in the morning.
Continues on Sunday
The low pressure that moved over the Baltic Sea yesterday has made its way north, over the Bothnian Sea, and is causing precipitation in Norrbotten in particular.
It will remain during Sunday, in the farthest north. The winds have picked up during the night, so it won’t be as windy as yesterday, says Linus Karlsson at SMHI.
Rainfall on Sunday is expected to be around five millimeters, but locally it could be up to one decimetre.
On the coast, the snow turns to rain and it will be considerably wetter, says Linus Karlsson.
Embankment washed away – rails hanging in the air
Train traffic through Västernorrland is cancelled, reports SVT Västernorrland.
The embankment is damaged in two places, between Sundsvall and Härnösand, as a result of the rainy weather and the high flows.
The rail is slightly in the air in one place. The water has washed away parts of the embankment, says Trafikverket’s press manager Bengt Olsson.
The damage was discovered by a train driver and in consultation with the Swedish Transport Administration it was decided that it was not enough to reduce the speed and the traffic was stopped.
The hope is that the traffic will be up and running on Monday.
– But I don’t have a complete forecast.
TT: Have you learned any lessons from the derailment in Hudiksvall?
Actually, it’s exactly the same approach as back then. The hard part is that it’s never black or white, it’s not ones and zeros on a computer screen. You have to judge how bad it is and whether it can handle it or not.
Freight traffic is diverted while travelers can take a bus between Härnösand and Sundsvall.