Late July downpours bring flooding to Southern Finland
Heavy rains hit Finland in the final week of July. Rising waters overflowed the banks of the Vantaa River, and water flooded onto roads, isolating many homes in Vantaa and Sipoo near Helsinki. Emergency services in the areas were busy pumping flood waters out of cellars.
Further north, in Riihimäki, electricity was cut off to a number of apartment buildings, and residents were offered food at a nearby school.
Large areas of farmland have also been submerged.
The heavy rains caused extensive damage to roads in Central and Eastern Finland. Repairs are expected to cost about one million euros.
Sewage treatment plants in Southern and Central Finland had trouble coping with the flooding waters. Several plants were forced to release inadequately treated sewage into waterways and swamps.
At one point about one third of the waste waters of the Helsinki region had to be discharged without treatment. Much of the discharge went into the Vantaa River, and officials have warned the public to avoid swimming in the river for now.
Water quality in the Gulf of Finland should not be affected very much, especially as it is being dilluted by large amounts of rain water.
Although sewage treatment plants are allowed to discharge inadequately treated waste water in emergency situations, such as the recent flooding, they are required to remain within certain output limits in the long term. This means that after the recent flooding, the plants will be required to treat new sewage more efficiently than before in order to stay within the limits.
The heavy rains have caused serious problems for Finnish farmers. Earlier in the summer indications were that this year would bring an exceptionally good harvest. However, the torrential rains of recent days have changed all that; grain has been flattened in the fields, and standing water threatens to smother the plants’ root systems.
Damp conditions slow down the ripening process, promote the spread of plant diseases, and make harvesting more difficult, and many farmers fear that they face a catastrophic harvest.
Regional differences are considerable: the damage to crops is worst in Eastern and Central Finland.
The rains have also had some positive effects. Already before the downpours of recent days, the steady precipitation of the early summer had replenished ground water which had been unusually low in many parts of Finland.
Ground water levels are now between 10 and 50 centimetres higher than the average for this time of the year. Last year they were between 20 and 50 cm lower than normal. Ground water levels are still below the long term average in the southeast, the northern part of the west coast, and Finnish Lapland, where it has rained less.
The summer rains have also raised water levels in lakes and inland waterways. In the Northern Savo region and in Central Finland, lakes have risen by 10 - 15 centimetres. "In a body of water covering 1,000 square kilometres, that is a very big rise", says Matti Ekholm of the Finnish Environment Institute, commenting on the situation of Lake Päijänne.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 2.8.2004 - TODAY |
 Late July downpours bring flooding to Southern Finland |
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