"The evacuation of Evenstad went without a problem. I was a bit taken aback when the alarm went off at 06:30 on Wednesday morning last week, but we were quickly made aware of the situation and saw with our own eyes flooded fields right outside the door. We were given ten minutes to pack the essentials before we were evacuated," says Anna Monika Schäffer.
Anna came from Germany to study a master's in applied ecology at Evenstad, and is a spokesperson for the students who were evacuated.
A total of 10 international students from seven countries and two parents were evacuated. Schäffer says they were continually kept up to date on the situation regarding the overflowing river and what the plan was for them.
"Being evacuated took us by surprise, even though it didn't come completely out of the blue due to the weather forecast, but everyone was calm the whole time. People were relaxed and in good spirits. It was a great help that everything was well organized for us. The evacuation was actually a good opportunity to get to know the other students better," says Schäffer.
"We can now look back on a day and a half of good cooperation between two local and well-functioning partners. The resources have been used well, which ensured a good outcome for the evacuation. The feedback indicates that the students are also satisfied with the follow-up they have received," says Halgrim Breie, who has led the local crisis management group at Evenstad.
Municipal director of Stor-Elvdal municipality, Nils Kvilvang, says they have been aware that Evenstad is vulnerable to flooding from river Glomma, and were well prepared.
"Potential challenges related to flooding at Evenstad are known to us and are on our radar, and in this case we resolved these together in a good way. The plans were clear in advance, and we had clear and close dialogues throughout the process to clarify who does what at what time, which ensured that things went as planned," says Kvilvang.
Praising the municiplal crisis management
Breie believes that the last few days are good proof that the actors involved know each other well and complement each other in a good way, even in an extreme situation.
"A good understanding of roles, in combination with efficient and pragmatic utilization of resources across lines and local knowledge, has ensured a brilliant collaboration," says Breie.
Work on the evacuation started on the night of Wednesday 9 August. Operating personnel in Statsbygg and the property department at INN University were mobilized at three in the morning to carry out quick and decisive efforts to secure property and infrastructure. The local crisis management group then decided on an evacuation order in consultation with the municipality at 06:00 on Wednesday morning, with immediate effect.
"The municipality has done a very good job. There has been particularly good communication relating to the situation on the roads to and from campus. Things move quickly in crises, and it is reassuring to see that things work when we are in such a crisis situation, from which we can also learn something for the future," says Dean of the Faculty of Applied Ecology, Agricultural Sciences and Biotechnology, Maria Hörnell Willebrand.
"Coordinated and experienced personnel in the local crisis management group have also worked well together," says Breie.
Ten students were evacuated
When the evacuation order came, twelve people who live in dormitories inside the Evenstad campus were evacuated. These were first moved to the village hall at Stenvika, which served as the municipality's evacuation centre, before being transported to Rena where they spent the night leading to Thursday at the Trudvang Hotel.
The municipality assisted in, among other things, getting the students to Stenvika, and had contact with the Norwegian People's Aid, which arranged food and drink.
"Trudvang Apartment Hotel also deserves praise for the way they threw themselves into action and got a second evacuation centre established. The hotel was initially full, but we found a solution where we could utilize meeting rooms equipped with mattresses," says Breie.
The evacuated students were allowed to return to their dormitories on Thursday evening.
"There will always be things to learn from how to handle crises, and it can be a bigger challenge another time. Perhaps in another case there will be a need to evacuate even more students? In principle, we would have addressed it in the same way as now, only on a slightly larger scale," says Kvilvang.
An almost normal start to the academic year
The start of the academic year at Evenstad proceeded as planned, with INNStart at Annes Hus on Tuesday 15 August at 1pm for all undergraduate and master's study programmes. Buddy Week started on Wednesday 16 August.
"In recent days, we have been shown that we can handle crises when they arise. The opening week will go as planned, and we are very much looking forward to welcoming both new and returning students," says Willebrand.
"I don't think anything could have been done differently. The organization and cooperation between INN University, the municipality, the students and the staff at the hotel was very good. It feels safe and good to be back at Evenstad," concludes Schäffer.
This article was translated from Norwegian by Noorit Larsen.