Intense storms hit Helsinki area and Pori

Injuries at heavy music festival in Pori, electricity failures and transport delays in south

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An intense thunderstorm that hit the south coast of Finland and swept over the country on Sunday evening, breaking the weekend’s mini-heat wave, caused heavy damage around the south of Finland. Falling trees blocked roads and railways around the Uusimaa region. Boaters caught by surprise had to be rescued, as winds reached speeds of up to 20 metres a second.
      Earlier in the day, 40 people were injured at the Sonisphere hard rock festival in Pori on Sunday afternoon when a sudden violent swept through the west coast city.
     
In the south, fallen trees interfered with rail traffic, cutting off the tracks between Lahti and Riihimäki and Lahti and Mäntsälä. A train en route from Kajaani to Helsinki had to return to Lahti at 11:00 PM.
      Train traffic was cut off for several hours between Lahti and Kouvola as well.
      Flights were also grounded at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport as the storm swept in from the south at high speed, bringing dangerously strong gusts of wind and torrential rain. Two planes had to be diverted to Tampere and two others to Tallinn.
     
About 21,000 households were without electricity on Monday morning. Most of the problems with the electric supply are in the Häme and Pirkanmaa regions.
      At one point in the night, as many as 70,000 households were blacked out as a total of 37,000 lightning strikes was recorded over the weekend, compared with an average for the whole month of August of 29,000.
      Finland has seen several incidents involving freak high winds and downbursts in recent days, as the sweltering weather of July breaks up in a series of storms. Until now, the Greater Helsinki region had been spared, but on Sunday night the capital was the first place to be bludgeoned by the elements.
     
In Pori, the injuries at the music festival were caused by equipment and structures blowing from the stage and flying into the crowd.
      Four of the approximately 40 people who were injured were hospitalised, and two were reported to be in critical condition.
      On Monday, the conditions of the most seriously injured had stabilised.
      The sudden storm, either a downburst, or possibly a mini-tornado, lasted just five minutes, with thunder, rain, and hail filling up the sky at about 4:00 PM.
     
Storm drains were soon overflowing, and a large t-shirt stand blew over. In spite of the sudden storm, the scene never descended into chaos at any point.
      Serious damage was inflicted on the stages and equipment. One band, Iggy and the Stooges, were only able to play an abbreviated acoustic set after their gear was drenched, and one of the main stars, Mötley Crüe, had to cancel its performance altogether.
      The organisers said that Mötley Crüe would perform at next year’s Sonisphere.
     
After some repairs both Alice Cooper and Iron Maiden were able to perform their sets several hours late.
      Fears of another weather incident were not realised, and the afternoon’s shared meteorological experience ultimately brought a sense of camaraderie to the audience.
      Giving a special flavour to the festival in the evening hours was the thick fog that rose after dark, adding to the atmosphere during Iron Maiden’s piece Fear of the Dark.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Third storm threatens to sweep through Finland next week (6.8.2010)
  Freak storm wreaks havoc at campground in Central Finland on Wednesday afternoon; three injured (5.8.2010)
  Tens of thousands of households without electricity after new storms (5.8.2010)
  Affected areas still struggling in aftermath of last week´s major storm (4.8.2010)

See also:
  Some spectacular images of Sunday night´s storm front as it powered into Helsinki from the south (captions are in Finnish; click on "Katso lisää kuvia")..
  More readers´images of the storm and lightning in Helsinki

Links:
  Sonisphere Finland

Helsingin Sanomat