{"id":4481,"date":"2015-10-01T20:52:08","date_gmt":"2015-10-01T20:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/?p=4481"},"modified":"2015-10-01T20:52:08","modified_gmt":"2015-10-01T20:52:08","slug":"catastrophic-floods-in-iceland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/2015\/10\/01\/catastrophic-floods-in-iceland\/","title":{"rendered":"Catastrophic floods in Iceland."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"2679537504_28a44845b0_b\"<\/a>

Vatnaj\u00f6kull + Twisted Bridge by Audrey at Flickr.<\/p><\/div>\n

Living in a volcanic country is never predictable. When we’re talking about volcanoes and the dangers they bring along many people would probably get a very Pompeiian idea of what that means, but actually the real threat is not fire at all. It’s water.<\/p>\n

Many of Iceland’s volcanoes are situated under glaciers, and when they start to warm up they melt the ice on top little by little until in the end the whole ice cap lifts up like a lid from a pot and lets out a huge flood. The worst ones of these floods take everything with them on their way and even smaller ones damage property and roads, threatening\u00a0the Ring Road 1 in south Iceland.\u00a0Besides the water another danger in the glacier floods is\u00a0the possibility of poisonous gas that the water might bring\u00a0along.<\/p>\n

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From up north at Dettifoss: probably the most catastrophic glacier flood of the history of Iceland happened here a long time ago, and this is what it left behind – rocks (and a majestic waterfall).<\/p><\/div>\n

Iceland is currently having a massive glacier flood at Skaft\u00e1 river, estimated to be larger and more powerful than any in the recent years; south Iceland is mostly uninhabited but alas, this flood might be nearing\u00a0a populated area. People are likely not in danger but property and roads may be and this is a bad time of the year to have roads cut off.<\/p>\n

To give you an idea of the impact of the floods, here’s a monument – a glacier memento, if you like – of the destructive power within Vatnaj\u00f6kull glacier.<\/p>\n

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This used to be a long bridge. Now all that’s left of it is this one, twisted rusty thing, standing alone in the middle of the large, cold desert south of Vatnaj\u00f6kull.<\/p>\n

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There’s also two signboards with photos of the flood\u00a0while it was still going on.<\/p>\n

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Here’s what the bridge used to look like, if you’d like to compare it to what’s now left of it. For views of the previous large glacier floods in Skaft\u00e1 I found this Flickr tag here<\/a> –\u00a0when floods happen here they happen very thoroughly!<\/p>\n

The current flood area is much more to the west, and we’re all following news on what’s going on in that part of Iceland. Travelers are being warned to not go near the flooded area and I can only hope the ban is effective, we’ve already lost more tourists to the powers of nature this year than we have of Icelanders.<\/p>\n

Glacial river flood under way<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Glacier flood may reach national ring road<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Skaft\u00e1 flood: “This could be very big”<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Flood to reach populated areas by midday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

LIVE: follow the sinking ice cap<\/a> (here you can watch the ice cover under which the water’s flooding out slowly collapse).<\/p>\n

The English news are obviously aimed at foreigners, so let’s also have a look at the media\u00a0in Icelandic.<\/p>\n

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Destroyed bridge on Route 1 after Katla J\u00f6kulhlaup in july 2011 by Pavel Karafl\u00e1t at Flickr.<\/p><\/div>\n

Langt hl\u00e9 g\u00e6ti \u00fe\u00fdtt a\u00f0 hlaupi\u00f0 ver\u00f0i st\u00f3rt<\/a><\/em> <\/strong>(A long break may mean that the flood will be large).<\/p>\n

This article discusses the possibility of a large flood comparing it to the previous years, where a break in the more or less regular slammer floods has always mean a big one is on its way. This article’s now two days old\u00a0though, and\u00a0today we know it’ll definitely be a large one. In fact –<\/p>\n

V\u00f6xtur Skaft\u00e1rhlaupsins \u00f3venjulega hra\u00f0ur<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (The Skaft\u00e1r-flood is expanding\u00a0unusually fast).<\/p>\n

\u00cd tilkynningu fr\u00e1 Ve\u00f0urstofunni segir a\u00f0 rennsli vi\u00f0 Sveinstind s\u00e9 n\u00fa r\u00famir \u00fe\u00fasund r\u00fammetrar \u00e1 sek\u00fandu og fari hratt vaxandi.<\/em><\/p>\n

An announcement from the Met Office says that the flooding at Sveinstind is now about a thousand cubic metres by second and growing.<\/p>\n

Fr\u00e9ttir St\u00f6\u00f0var 2 \u00ed kv\u00f6ld: H\u00e6ttustigi l\u00fdst yfir<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (News on Channel 2 tonight, alarm level announced).<\/p>\n

“Allt bendir til \u00feess a\u00f0 \u00feetta s\u00e9 mj\u00f6g st\u00f3rt hlaup og jafnvel st\u00e6rsta hlaup sem a\u00f0 hefur komi\u00f0 \u00far k\u00f6tlunum eftir a\u00f0 m\u00e6lingar h\u00f3fust sem var held \u00e9g 1971… …Meiri h\u00e6tta \u00fe\u00e1 \u00e1 vegaskemmdum uppi \u00ed Skaft\u00e1rdal… …og s\u00ed\u00f0an n\u00e1tt\u00farlega eru \u00fe\u00e1 or\u00f0nar auknar l\u00edkur \u00e1 a\u00f0 \u00fea\u00f0 fl\u00e6\u00f0i hugsanlega yfir \u00fej\u00f3\u00f0veg 1. Sem \u00fe\u00fd\u00f0ir a\u00f0 \u00fea\u00f0 geti hugsanlega \u00feurft a\u00f0 loka honum um einhvern t\u00edma,” segir V\u00ed\u00f0ir Reynisson.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Everything’s pointing to a very large flood, possibly even the largest flood that has come from the calderas after measuring began that I think was in 1971… …More danger is of damage to roads up in Skaft\u00e1rdal… …and then naturally it’s become more and more likely that it’ll flood considerably over national road 1. That means it may have to be closed for some time,” says V\u00ed\u00f0ir Reynisson.<\/p>\n

(For Icelanders the Ring Road 1 is a lifeline around the country, and though it’s cut somewhat regularly by the forces of nature it’s never to be taken lightly.)<\/p>\n

H\u00e6ttustigi l\u00fdst yfir<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (danger level announced). Here’s footage of the flood as it was earlier today – also a great chance to train your ear to Icelandic!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Living in a volcanic country is never predictable. When we’re talking about volcanoes and the dangers they bring along many people would probably get a very Pompeiian idea of what that means, but actually the real threat is not fire at all. It’s water. Many of Iceland’s volcanoes are situated under glaciers, and when they…<\/p>\n

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