The Icelandic government has few comprehensive plans of action in the event of a natural disaster, and Icelandic Civil Protection believes more needs to be done.
Although Iceland is a country well-known for volcanoes, earthquakes and avalanches, Eyjan reports that the government has only two comprehensive plans of action in place pertaining to natural disasters: an eruption of Katla and an eruption at Eyjafjallajökull.
There are no plans in place for Hekla, Grímvötn, or the entirety of the Reykjanes area, which is highly geologically active.
In a report released by Icelandic Civil Protection that brought the matter to light, the organisation recommends some 200 areas of the country be focused on by the government, and that evacuation and safety plans be made for them.
Víðir Reynisson of Icelandic Civil Protection told Fréttablaðið, “We have some general plans due to more volcanoes, but they’re old and outdated. We should be drawing from the experience of recent years.”
The report marks the first time Icelandic Civil Protection has taken a look at the country as a whole in terms of safety and evacuation plans in the event of a disaster.
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