The chairman of the search and rescue (SAR) team in Grindavík, Bogi Adolfsson, says that the heavy traffic because of the volcano goers is literally breaking the infrastructure of the town.
“It feels like the system has collapsed,” Bogi said in an interview with RÚV adding: “It’s like a hostage situation for the whole town. It can’t go on like this any longer.“
It’s safe to say that there has been huge pressure on the hundreds of volunteers for the SAR team in Grindavík because of the volcano that burst out of Geldingadalur on the 19th of March. Not only do the SAR teams have to secure the area, but thousands of people have hiked to see the volcano since it erupted. This has had many unexpected complications, one is that the people of Grindavík can’t get anywhere because of traffic.
“This is like putting a highway in the middle of a town without asking anyone. I know for example about people that couldn’t get to the store yesterday because of the heavy traffic. Some were stuck close to Mt. Þorbjörn for a longer time and response parties have been in trouble getting through traffic, for example, the ambulance,” Bogi says.
“We really need to reorganize how we are doing this,” he added.
The eruption site is closed for now due to light winds allowing for higher concentrations of toxic gas from the eruptions. Given the new fissure that has appeared nearby, SAR and other officials will certainly have their hands full once the area is open again.
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