11:17 15Nov2005 RTRS-Floods hit western Norway, reservoirs brim over

OSLO, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Heavy rains have caused hydropower water
reservoirs in western Norway to overflow, contributing to flooding by
rivers and triggering landslides in which one person died, officials
said on Tuesday.
The western counties of Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane were the most
heavily hit by flooding, which in was the worst in 50 years, an official
at the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) said. "We
had quite a lot of precipitation yesterday, and there is a flood in most
of the rivers (of the region), including regulated and non-regulated
rivers," NVE duty hydrologist Hige Hisdal told Reuters.
Many water reservoirs were full and overflowing, but the heavy rain
had stopped and the situation was expected to improve on Wednesday,
Hisdal said.
"The hydropower reservoirs are not causing trouble in general -- the
trouble is caused by landslides," she said. "There are many roads
blocked and some houses hit by landslides, and one person killed
yesterday by that."
A 27-year-old construction worker was killed on Monday at a building
site in Bergen was killed when a building slid on top of him and
co-workers, Norwegian media reported.
"There have been some precipitation records set for November,"
Hisdal said.
"It is passing now, because the rain has stopped," she said, adding
that the heavy rain had turned to showers and colder temperatures meant
that rain showers had turned to snow at higher elevations where the big
water reservoirs are located.
Almost all power production in Norway comes from hydroelectric
stations.
Forward prices of Nordic electricity 0#ENOALL: fell on Tuesday,
reversing Monday's gains.
Spot prices have been hit by the rainy weather, with the Tuesday
average price down 13 percent at a new five-month low of 184.52
Norwegian crowns ($27.81) per megawatt hour. A new spot price fixing for
Wednesday was awaited later in the day.
Tuesday's spot price was almost 20 percent below the price for the
same day a year ago.

($1=6.635 Norwegian Crown)