From Iceland — Last Night's Storm: Lightning, Damaged Cars & Haunted Garbage

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Art Bicnick

Last night’s gale storm had effects across the country, from the hazardous to the humorous.

If you were downtown and outside last night, you may have noticed the uncommon occurrence of thunder and lightning. This was no harmless phenomenon, as Vísir reports. A bolt of lightning struck a main power cable in the southwest, shutting off power to the entire Reykjanes peninsula. Power also went out in Hafnarfjörður and Garðabær for about half an hour. Fortunately, power was restored to Reykjanes about an hour after the lightning struck. However, later in the night yet another bolt of lightning struck a separate power cable, cutting off power to Vík and environs, as well as to the Westman Islands. Electricity returned to the area, again about an hour later.

The winds as powerful as they were, flying debris was another factor. RÚV reports that winds scattered debris to such an extent that numerous cars were badly damaged across the southwest of the country.

On a lighter note, one Icelander attempting to dispose of trash down his apartment building’s garbage chute discovered that his trash was in fact haunted, as it attempted to float out of the chute again. That, or the winds blowing up from the trash room carried the garbage aloft. We’ll never know the truth, really.