Multi-Hazard approach to early warning system in Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Sogn og Fjordane, a mountainous Norwegian coastal county with heavy seasonal tourism, faces frequent avalanches, landslides, storm surges and flooding, with poor accessibility in peripheral communities increasing vulnerability. A multi-hazard early warning demonstration was set up and tested in Aurland municipality.

Part of the EU-funded Clim-ATIC project, the demonstration aimed to establish and test a cost-effective, multi-hazard, people-centred population warning system using mobile phones and social media, built on existing infrastructure and legislative frameworks rather than new systems.

A reference group met four times (2008-2010) to define specifications; phone-based SMS/voice alerts were chosen as the core channel, tested via the existing county-wide 'Alarmsentralen' emergency operations centre. A live warning exercise was run on 10 June 2010, alongside a table-top exercise on local authorities' response capacity, with dissemination via the County Governor's website, Twitter, Facebook and local media.

The test alert reached 2,500 mobile phones (SMS) and 322 fixed-line phones (voice message); the Facebook post was visible for 2 hours and received 201,849 views. Efficacy was assessed via an online evaluation form and a door-to-door survey in Høydalen. Total project cost was EUR 105,145 (EUR 55,377 from the County Governor of Sogn og Fjordane, EUR 49,768 from the Northern Periphery Programme).

The system was found technically feasible using existing infrastructure, but was never adopted by national or subnational authorities, due to budget constraints and legislative/confidentiality barriers preventing telecom geographic data from being shared for targeted alerts. Recurrent extreme-weather events since 2010 have not resulted in implementation.