From Iceland — Downtown Reykjavik Loses Power, Chaos Avoided

Downtown Reykjavik Loses Power, Chaos Avoided

Published July 13, 2021

Erik Pomrenke
Photo by
Art Bicnick

Restaurant patrons across downtown Reykjavik were mildly inconvenienced yesterday, July 12th, when locations in Laugavegur, Ingólfsstræti and Austurstræti lost power.

Breki Logason of Orkuveita Reykjavíkur stated to Fréttablaðið that the cause of the outage was unknown, but that answers were being sought. As of 14:25, the power had been restored.

In case of such outages, residents are asked to unplug appliances that do not automatically turn off, as they may be damaged when power is restored. Additionally, residents and restaurants alike were asked to minimize the time refrigerators and freezers stand open.

Were your efforts to grab lunch frustrated yesterday?

Did the brief blip in the functioning order of modern post-industrial society lay bare the fragility of it all?

Did you find yourself staring into space, phone half-charged, thinking about the infinite, yawning void that preceded and succeeds your fleeting life?

Yes? No? Was it just us?

Either way, we’re here for you.

Note: Due to the effect the Coronavirus is having on tourism in Iceland, it’s become increasingly difficult for the Grapevine to survive. If you enjoy our content and want to help the Grapevine’s journalists do things like eat and pay rent, please consider joining our High Five Club.

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