Permanent flood barriers needed to protect Kittilä in future

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Permanent flood barriers will have to be erected to keep Kittilä safe in the future, believes the head of the town's fire department Jorma Ojala. Further north in Ivalo, the flood barriers erected 20 years ago have kept the centre of the town more or less dry after the worst spring flooding in years affected Finnish Lapland last week.
      On Saturday, the water in the River Ounasjoki continued to rise further. However, after Friday, the pace slowed down from two centimetres to one centimetre per hour. The flood was thought to have reached its peak on Saturday night. Sunday saw no new records, and the level even receded slightly. Nevertheless, the situation for many remains critical even today.
      The temporary barriers had to be strengthened repeatedly, as the rising water penetrated them, and water had to be pumped away from between the banks and buildings. Also the basements of several houses had to be emptied of standing water.
      A total of 110 men including voluntary firefighters, municipal workers, and conscripts from the Sodankylä garrison were deployed to protect the villages.
     
More massive, permanent flood barriers need to be put in place as heavy spring floods have become more common. Even though the fire department had been informed by the Lapland Regional Environment Centre well in advance that the Ounasjoki would reach flood levels, the rise of the water level still came as a surprise to them. Previously, the Ounasjoki had flooded last in the spring of 2000.
      The water surface was this time said to be clearly higher than in 2000. The waters reached even houses that were built on ridges.
     
In Rovaniemi, the flooding of the River Ounasjoki was not expected to cause any damage, as the regulation of the level of Lake Kemijärvi had been started as a precaution.
      The scale of the property damage in the areas along the Ounasjoki has not been evaluated yet, as all resources have been needed to protect the villages.
     
The flooding of the River Ivalojoki further east and north seems to be receding. The next rivers that are expected to flood are the Tenojoki and Torniojoki.
      As regular insurance policies do not cover damages caused by floods, the state is the principal source of flood compensation.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Flooding in Finnish Lapland leads to large-scale evacuations in Ivalo and Kittilä (27.5.2005)

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