Norway sees its most powerful storm in over three decades

Hurricane-force winds are expected to hit the region. Pic/X

Residents of central Norway awoke to scenes of havoc and homes without power Thursday following the country's most powerful storm in more than three decades. Hurricane-force winds hit parts of the Scandinavian country, with gusts of up 180 kmph. Near Laerdal - a small, picturesque town northeast of Bergen and Norway's second-largest city - a bus with 14 passengers was blown off a road, though no injuries were reported, police said.

Some areas were flooded, and airlines and ferry operators temporarily suspended service. There were scattered reports of closed schools, roads, tunnels and bridges both Wednesday and Thursday. The storm, named Ingunn by Norwegian meteorologists, landed in central Norway on Wednesday afternoon before moving north Thursday. The Meteorological Institute issued a red warning, its highest alert, for the Arctic region.

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