Western Lapland has been hit by the worst floods in more than 50 years. Part of the cabins of the entrepreneur Hanna Niva’s campsite were left under floodwaters.
River Camp Field it’s just over a week until the opening, but some of the cabins in the campsite are flooded. The field where the caravanners should be able to stay is also soaking wet.
According to the Finnish Environment Institute, Western Lapland has been hit by the worst floods in 55 years.
Campsite entrepreneur Hanna Niva still sounds calm on the phone.
“Of course, you can’t let anyone in there yet, but fortunately the water seems to be receding at a good pace,” says Niva.
Hanna Niva and her husband Janne in Niva is only facing the first summer as entrepreneurs of the campsite. It is clear that they could not have expected such a start to their entrepreneurial career, because the last time the water in Pello rose as high was in 1968.
On Monday morning, damage assessment was still in progress at Nivoi. A beach sauna and a few cottages right next to the beach were flooded.
“The water in the cabins didn’t rise all the way to the beds, but there wasn’t much left to be done,” says Niva.
Niva says that the water rose so quickly that they didn’t have time to take protective measures.
According to Niva, the luck in the accident is that the cabins affected by the flood are wooden cabins for summer use, which have not been insulated or sealed in any way.
The entrepreneur hopes that the wooden cabins will dry out by themselves when the water recedes.
“The hope is that they would dry out on their own. However, they are very clean now that the flood water has been brown and dirty.”
There is also plenty of cleaning to do on the plot for the next few days, as a lot of rubbish has come with the floodwaters.
“The schedule still plans to open at the beginning of June”, believes Niva.
Although the water level has now been a record high, Hanna Niva, who has lived in Pello all her life, is used to the fact that Tornionjoki can flood in the spring.
“Of course, nothing can be done about them.”
The floods held During the busy weekend of the Lapland Rescue Service, in addition to Pello, Muonio, Kolar, Ylitornio and Tornio.
Firefighter on duty at the Lapland Rescue Service Pekka Siivola says that on Saturday alone the rescue service had 40 tasks, while there are usually around 15 on weekends.
“The work has been pressed into the night,” says Siivola.
The Finnish Defense Forces have also helped the rescue service.
According to Siivola, there were no personal injuries or actual dangerous situations, but the rescue tasks have primarily been protecting buildings and pumping water from basements.
The floodwaters have also affected traffic. Roads have been cut off in places, and traffic has been diverted to detours. For example, on Saturday, Valtatie 21 had to be closed to traffic in Ylitornio.
“There has been quite a bit of this kind of flood tourism since then. You have gone too close to wonder and then the car has turned off in the floodwater,” says Siivola.
According to Siivola, some of the rescue tasks could have been avoided if people were better prepared for dangerous situations caused by the flood. On Monday, Lapland’s rescue service published instructions on how to avoid dangerous situations on Twitter.
On Monday, however, the situation had mostly calmed down in the flooded areas.
Only in Tornio was the water still expected to rise.
“The situation in Tornio is being monitored, but the water is unlikely to rise over the flood walls there either,” says Siivola.
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