Norway's most powerful storm in over 30 years leaves a trail of destruction

COPENHAGEN, Denmark -

Residents of central Norway awoke to scenes of havoc and homes without power Thursday following the country's most powerful storm in more than three decades.

Hurricane-force winds hit parts of the Scandinavian country, with gusts of up 180 kilometres per hour (112 miles per hour). Near Laerdal, a small, picturesque town northeast of Bergen, Norway's second-largest city, a bus with 14 passengers was blown off the road, though no injuries were reported, police said.

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Some areas were flooded, and airlines and ferry operators temporarily suspended service. There were scattered reports of closed schools, roads, tunnels and bridges both Wednesday and Thursday.

Hurricane-strength gusts also were reported overnight in Sweden. The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute issued a red warning for the western part of the Norrbottens district, which borders Norway.

The storm, named Ingunn by Norwegian meteorologists, landed in central Norway on Wednesday afternoon before moving north Thursday. The Meteorological Institute had issued a red warning, its highest alert, for the Arctic region.

Several windows were blown out of a hotel in Bodoe, a large town in the Nordland district, police said. Downtown Bodoe was later sealed off because "there is a danger to life and health," according to police. University Hospital of North Norway said parts came loose from its roof antenna in Harstad, and photos in Norwegian media showed a helicopter landing pad littered with debris.

Bjornar Gaasvik, a police spokesman in the Troendelag region, told Norwegian news agency NTB that the public safety agency received between 40 and 50 reports overnight from people affected by the storm and more were expected Thursday.

Sigmund Clementz of IF insurance told Norwegian newspaper VG that it was too early so estimate the cost of the storm damage.

South of there in Denmark, the Storebaelt bridge linking two major Danish islands, was closed to vehicles with lighter trailers because of strong winds.

The storm hit the same area as a 1992 New Year's hurricane, one of the strongest storms in Norway's history, the newspaper VG wrote.