Week 16/17 : Most dangerous disasters and prevention plans in Norway

     Throughout the course of this adventure into the natural hazards of Norway, we now must arrive to the conclusion of our journey. So what is our end? Well, to wrap things up, I thought it would be a great idea to summarize the most dangerous disasters in Norway, as well as the prevention and plans that go into fighting back against these disasters.

1. LANDSLIDES

     In the first week of my journey into Norway's natural hazards, I learned about landslides. What some may consider not a very serious hazard among the others, landslides are very dangerous to Norwegians. It not only affects rural towns, but has caused many lives to have been lost in the inner cities. Fast clay landslides are known to  develop at an accelerated pace and is more common to occur in larger areas and even land that is flat. Throughout the historical record of Norway's history with landslides, it is the quick clay landslides that have taken the most lives and has left a significant amount of damage to the country.

     Thankfully, Norway has a preventative maintenance plan set in place to assist its citizens on the investigation of quick clay landslides. Some of the services include mapping an area and determining the levels of danger that are present, the consequence and the risk of landslides in the area. Mitigation measures are put in place to assist and advise where a landslide is likely to occur.

2. AVALANCHES

      Avalanches and Norway go hand in hand in the winter season.  They are caused by the actions and responses between snow, weather and terrain. Steep terrain activities such as hiking, climbing and skiing have played a pivotal role in avalanche activity. When an avalanche occurs, important roads and railways are closed and it makes it harder for Norway's citizens to evacuate their homes. It has been statistically shown that accidents that have led to fatalities from avalanches are related to outdoor activities.

     With the expertise of researchers such as, meteorologists, physicists, mechanics, and a number of other trades, the knowledge gained to know when and where an avalanche may be triggered is increased. Mathematicians are able to make calculations on the data of speed, pressure, and even the distance of an avalanche. Like landslides, avalanches are assessed by their hazard and risk to populated areas. With the planning of proposed measures to map out avalanches and how to protect from them, Norwegians make it a consistent routine to implement methods of warning and sending emergency alerts to the citizens.

                                                                                               Sources

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.459.1899&rep=rep1&type=pdf#:~:text=The%20main%20natural%20hazards%20in,possibly%2020%E2%80%93100%20associated%20deaths.

https://www.ngi.no/eng/Services/Technical-expertise/Avalanches

https://www.ngi.no/eng/Services/Technical-expertise/Quick-clay-landslides

Comments

  1. Eddy BoughtonMay 24, 2022 at 5:10 PM

    Johnathan,

    I'd love to say our countries (I had Sweden) have similar natural hazards, but I'd be lying. Although Sweden suffers from similar hazards, they actually suffer the most from flooding, specifically along the Southern coast. The preventative measures I decided to include were installing water pump stations throughout all the coastal cities (~82% of Sweden's population lives in a coastal region), create separate pipelines for sewage and storm water runoff in order to reduce the chance of it getting backed up, add hard structures to help divert water flow, and ensure everyone is equipped with proper equipment and first-aid training in the event they come face-to-face with a natural disaster. Sweden and Norway do however share a similar tactic in keeping their citizens up to date on the most recent risk mitigation measures in order to reduce the risk of a significant tragedy from occurring.

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  2. Matthew AlvaradoMay 25, 2022 at 12:28 AM

    Hello Jonathan,
    Really appreciated the organization and detail you put in your post. Landslides and Avalanches are an interesting natural hazard however not to surprising coming from Norway. Ukraine does not experience so much of that however after heaving flooding or rain it can occur.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ana GGMay 26, 2022 at 10:30 AM

    Nice final summary. Where would you live (and avoid) in that country?

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