Thursday 5 December 2013

Just call me Dorothy!

I live in a lovely cottage in the Norwegian countryside. It overlooks the North Sea, it has no adjoining neighbours and it fits me just fine. The basement is built with brick and the rest is made of wood. And last night the storm started.

Now, most of northern Europe is dealing with severe weather at the moment. Scotland, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and even down in Belgium. And of course here in Norway. Where it seems to have started by the sound of it, since it's moving downwards. Well, everybody living South of me: beware: it's a doozy!

As I was lying in bed last night, I thought that it was occasionally moving. The storm wasn't at its height yet, so tonight I will be bunking in the spare room: no wind hitting that side of the house. Especially since when I got home, I realised there were several things on the floor that usually reside on a small ledge near the ceiling!

This morning the weather was stormy, but still doable. By early afternoon it had deteriorated. Very much. I had to drive across the big bridge. I was scared! The wind was coming directly from the right, the bridge is high and the water is in an open connection with the North Sea. When I came back only 20 minutes later, the bridge was closed, due to some tall vehicle having a bit of bother. Turned out, one of the buses had lost its windscreen!! Fortunately there is now a tunnel, so I turned around and made my way to Haugesund the long way round!

By the time I got to town, some scaffolding at the hospital had come down, so a road was closed. The Christmas market in the center was frantically trying to rescue/salvage/secure as much as they could. Buses were late, passengers were trying to stay up in the fierce wind. I then had to make my way back to the island, this time by tunnel only. By the time I was well on my way the message came that all routes to and from the island were cancelled due to the weather. 

And it wasn't just the strong wind that was bad. Winter had decided to arrive as well. Temperatures close to zero resulted in snow, sleet and hail. Sometimes all three at once. When I finally got home (via the tunnel of course, since the bridge was still closed), the wind was so strong I had to make three tours from the car to the house to get everything in. 

So, when you don't hear from me in the near future, the house has lifted and taken me somewhere that is not Karmøy! Somebody got a dog I can borrow?

5 comments:

  1. Vicki had a flying lesson today she could come with you!!. Glad you hear you are ok though. Hilary

    ReplyDelete
  2. Stay tough! The wind can be so scary. But things falling off shelves, that is beyond scary.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hari OM
    It certainly was a doozy here in Scotland...I didn't venture out till the wind had dropped to under the 40mph mark. EEEK.

    Today the sun is shining and barely a breeze. Forecast is good; which is great as I am headed over to the west coast tomorrow and need the trains and boats to be operational. No tunnels to Isle Of Bute!! Anyway, I am sure the world will be hearing from Mara but I may not be able to visit until I get back. Stay safe and warm!! YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow! That sounds pretty major.

    ReplyDelete
  5. That must have been very scary ! I hate storms since the day 3 trees of our garden fell on the road ! I also had opened the French window a bit and my curtains were sucked out ! It was a battle to get them in again ! They had announced waves of 6 m high at Belgian coast and winds of 100 km. But as always when they announce bad weather or rain, there is nothing and sunshine. This time too, the waves were maybe 6 cm high and nothing happened ! A bit strong wind !

    ReplyDelete

Any weighty (and not so weighty) comments are welcome!