The rescue service was overwhelmed by hundreds of alarms. People got stuck in water masses and had to be evacuated.
I thought it wasn't that deep. But I got stuck, says bus driver Erik Rexa to SVT Jönköping.
Thunderstorm, thunder, and strong winds swept in over Jönköping County on Wednesday afternoon. The bad weather caused flooded basements, closed roads, and got cars and buses stuck. According to the rescue service, areas around Jönköping and Gislaved were hit the hardest.
Over 40,000 lightning bolts were registered in the affected areas, and large amounts of rain came down in just a few hours.
Large variations
Tomtabacken is one of SMHI's measuring stations, located southeast of Jönköping.
There, they have measured 40 millimeters of rain from 8 am to 8 pm. That gives an indication of the rainfall amounts. But there are large variations, and naturally, it may have rained more in some places, says Linus Karlsson, meteorologist at SMHI.
Private individuals in the Jönköping area report measuring rainfall amounts of up to 60 millimeters.
The rescue service was overwhelmed by hundreds of alarms. Among other things, they had to evacuate people from cars and buses that got stuck in the water masses.
I thought it wasn't that deep. But I got stuck, said bus driver Erik Rexa to SVT Jönköping.
His bus got stuck under a viaduct, and the passengers were evacuated by the rescue service.
Flooded houses
Several basements, houses, and shops were flooded.
When we opened the door, the water just poured out. Everything that was on the floor is destroyed, says Susanne Esping, who runs an art shop in Jönköping, to P4 Jönköping.
Now the shop has to be closed and renovated.
The police urged residents to stay indoors. And at the same time, there were reports of landslides and risk of landslides. For a period, the E4 north of Huskvarna was closed as the road was at risk of collapsing.
