Strong wind cuts power supply to 73,200 homes in West Norway

As many as 73,200 households on the western coast of Norway reported power outages on Saturday as a result of extreme stormy weather conditions.

The exact number of customers who had reported a power outage up to 18:00 p.m. local time on Saturday was 73,200, which means over 168,000 people have been affected, Kjetil Hillestad, a spokesman for the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE), told the Norwegian news agency NTB.

The electricity supply in several places in the three most-affected counties of Hordaland, Ragaland and West Agder was still completely gone, he said.

Bad weather conditions, fallen trees and loose objects on power lines were a major challenge for workers to restore the power supply.

Power lines lying on the ground were dangerous and people had been advised to take precautions.

In Hordaland, Civil Defence had been called to provide assistance to police in dealing with an emergency situation.

According to the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, the wind was blowing at 45.6 meters per second in some places on Saturday afternoon.

Bridges and tunnels were closed and roads were blocked by fallen trees in much of the West Coast region.

The storm wind blew away roofs from the buildings of a high school in Haugesund and the roof of a football stadium in another town, forcing the closure of many public roads in the region. Endit