The day after the tragic accident on Reinøya, French tourists found themselves in the still very landslide-prone area. It causes reactions in the neighbours.
The local community on Reinøya is strongly affected by the avalanche that cost a couple in their 60s their lives at Grøtnesdalen on Friday.
Torill Aarøen (58) lives in Finnkroken and was at work as a specialist nurse when the avalanche happened.
– Everyone knows everyone here, so it was not pleasant to be at work yesterday. I called the manager and said I was going to be out of touch for a bit, and everyone understood that. People called to see if we were alive, says Aarøen to iTromsø.
But she reacted strongly when, on her way to work on Saturday, she met a group of tourists who had been walking in the area, completely unaware of the tragedy the day before.
– I know that I am very upset. Who is responsible for ensuring that more people can go in the mountains?, wonders Aarøen.
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Not aware of the slide
Aarøen says that she cycles back and forth between work and Finnkroken every day. It was on one of those bike rides that she supported some French tourists on Saturday.
– They said that they had gone skiing on the summit. I asked if they were aware that there had been a landslide, and they said no, she tells iTromsø.
– It upset me, and I spoke to an elderly man who lives where they had gone up and down. He had spoken to them, but felt stupid when they just looked at him strangely, she adds.
Aarøen, who has himself been a guide on Reinøya, says that the area the tourists have hiked in is in a very landslide-prone area.
– They have gone up Sæterelvstind, which is located exactly in the area from which it has been evacuated. Reinøya’s highest peak at almost 900 metres. It’s a big mess and we would never have gone there.
I think more information needs to be put in place
Aarøen says that there are many tourists in the area. In particular, she believes there are many boats on the Langsund side.
– There are quite a few boats, two a week, maybe three. It is mostly Italians and French. They go places we would never imagine going. When landslides occur, we become even more afraid. It does something to us that they can go straight to death.
She does not know where the responsibility for better information lies, but believes that someone must “step in” to do something about tourists walking around in unknown and landslide-prone areas.
She has one concrete proposal.
– Maybe big posters at the airport since they don’t contact us, who are known locally. After all, they also sleep in the boats, and do not visit local tourist businesses.
– Not one krone leaves them, adds Aarøen.
– Had never heard of landslides in Grøtnesdalen
Like others in the small local community, Aarøen is naturally affected by Friday’s tragic event.
– I feel quite bad, because it is close and I know the family very well, she says.
Aarøen says that her grandmother grew up on the farm that disappeared at sea on Friday, and she had no experience of landslides there.
My grandmother was born in 1904 and she lived on the farm when she grew up. Mother Emma, as we called her, had never heard that there had been a landslide in Grøtnesdalen, says Aarøen.
– How aware are you of the avalanche danger in the area?
– I think we are in certain areas where there are always landslides. People in Grøtnesdalen don’t go there when there are landslides. But no one has probably thought that it could happen in the village, she says.
