The village of Järvberget in Örnsköldsvik is cut off after torrential rains washed away over 100 meters of road. Residents, including those with health issues, are stranded. Despite the isolation, they have sufficient supplies. The storm caused significant flooding, leaving some homes without water.
Severe Storm Isolates Swedish Village: Roads Washed Away
Severe Storm Isolates Swedish Village: Roads Washed Away
Over 100 meters of road have been washed away. The village of Järvberget is cut off from the outside world after last night's torrential rains. – I am 68 years old and have never seen so much water, says Thommy Carlson, who, along with about 20 other people, is isolated in the village.
Thommy Carlson, a resident of Ultrå, is in his childhood village of Järvberget in the northern parts of Örnsköldsvik municipality.
And he cannot leave.
– It's completely hopeless. Several hundred meters of the road are completely washed away. There are small forest roads where you would normally be able to maneuver your way out to the main road in another way. But they are also washed away, says Thommy Carlson.
– You can't even drive a quad bike.
He estimates the number of people now cut off in the village to be between 20 and 30, as first reported by Örnsköldsviks Allehanda.
Among them are people with multiple illnesses and a person suffering from diabetes.
– We have an elderly man who has been sick for many years and he was supposed to see the doctor tomorrow, but he can forget about that.
Svevia, which maintains the road, has been informed of the situation.
"Motor Short-Circuited"
Thommy Carlson is surprised that there is still electricity in the village, but the floods have left some houses without water – including his own.
– I am currently pumping water out of our pump house because it has been flooded, causing a short circuit in the motor.
– It's a bit troublesome, but it's a first-world problem. We had planned to be here hunting for two weeks, so we have plenty of food and drink.
Photos he has taken from the site show how the road has been destroyed and replaced by a rushing stream.
On Saturday, he hunted moose with his sons.
– We shot a moose that we hung up in our slaughterhouse and then went home. It had started to rain moderately by then.
"In the Eye of the Storm"
But the storm soon intensified.
– We had an insanely hard thunderstorm. And during the evening and especially the night, it poured down. A hunting buddy has a rain gauge, and when it's full, it's 100 millimeters. It was full early in the night – and then it continued.
During the downpour, he checked SMHI's weather map.
– On the deep red part, where the worst rain occurred during the night, this village was at the center all the time. It swirls and moves, but it is right in the eye of the storm.
Thommy Carlson has never experienced anything like it.
– This is a village that is located high, high up. We are one of the highest villages in Örnsköldsvik. So it's not flat land that attracts water. But as it looked this morning, it's absolutely incredible.