Apocalypse in Norway! A series of hailstorm across Europe! Millions of people are waiting for help!

A dam in southern Norway partially breached Wednesday after days of heavy rain that caused landslides and flooding in the mountainous region and forced downstream communities to evacuate, officials said. Authorities had initially considered blowing up part of the Braskeridfoss hydroelectric dam on the Glom, Norway’s longest and fullest river. The idea was to prevent downstream communities from being flooded by using a limited controlled explosion to relieve pressure on the dam. At least 1,000 people live in communities close to the river in the area, and authorities said they had all been evacuated before the dam began to collapse. But the proposal was dropped after water later breached the structure, police spokesman Fredrik Thomson told reporters. Officials now hope to see a gradual and even equalization of water levels, Thompson said. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre warned that flooding would continue to be a threat as excess water flows downstream. An automatic system that was supposed to open floodgates to release the water has failed. The rapidly rising water overflowed over the dam and into the power plant itself, causing serious damage, officials said In Germany, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia was particularly badly affected, with reports of damaged cars, broken windows and flooded streets. The storm caused major disruptions to travel, with several flights cancelled and train services delayed or cancelled. A severe storm and hailstorm have caused significant damage across parts of Germany and Poland. The storm, which hit the region over the weekend, brought with it high winds and large hailstones, some of which were reportedly the size of golf balls. In Poland, the city of Warsaw was hit by the storm, which brought down trees and caused extensive damage to buildings. The hailstorm was particularly intense, with many residents taking to social media to share photos of large hailstones that had fallen in the city.