EVACUATION ALERT: Gruvelageret, nearby buildings vacated due to avalanche risk, Huset remains open

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Gruvelageret and the surrounding buildings on the mountainside beyond Huset have been evacuated due to the avalanche risk, The Governor of Svalbard announced Monday afternoon.

The announcement followed the closure of Vei 300 between Huset and the old museum earlier during the day after an avalanche spilled across the road, although access to Huset remains possible via the road from Nybyen. Officials are also monitoring conditions in Nybyen, where small snowslides have occurred in vicinity of Mine 2B, but expert assessors do not believe any slides will reach buildings under current conditions.

“We encourage people not to move on the mountainside on the upper side of the settlement and generally take proper precautions when they go out in the terrain,” Police Chief Lt. Vidar Arnesen said.

Above-freezing temperatures, along with periods of rain/snow and strong winds, are causing the risky conditions, according to the governor. A Level Three risk level (considerable) is forecast for Tuesday, according to the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate

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Mark Sabbatini

I'm a professional transient living on a tiny Norwegian island next door to the North Pole, where once a week (or thereabouts) I pollute our extreme and pristine environment with paper fishwrappers decorated with seemingly random letters that would cause a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters to die of humiliation. Such is the wisdom one acquires after more than 25 years in the world's second-least-respected occupation, much of it roaming the seven continents in search of jazz, unrecognizable street food and escorts I f****d with by insisting they give me the platonic tours of their cities promised in their ads. But it turns out this tiny group of islands known as Svalbard is my True Love and, generous contributions from you willing, I'll keep littering until they dig my body out when my climate-change-deformed apartment collapses or they exile my penniless ass because I'm not even worthy of washing your dirty dishes.

marksabbatini@yahoo.com

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