Major Damage Was Done Due To Stormy Weather

The fire station in Reyðarfjörður was heavily damaged during the weekend’s stormy weather, reports RÚV.

Titans of Icelandic photography combine in this discount box in the Grapevine Store: signed copies of both Faces of the North by RAX and Planet Iceland by Sigurgeir Sigurjónsson. As always, join our High Five Club to support our journalism, get discounts in our shop/tours and get the latest issue sent straight to your email.

In addition, many buildings in town suffered damage. Some of them are now considered uninhabitable.

“Ever since midday on Monday, there has been extreme weather here, strong winds, which has caused a lot of damage throughout the municipality and especially here in Reyðarfjörður, but there has been no time to go out there and fix anything, but now it is hopefully subsiding and then people will go and understand the situation better,” said Þórður Vilberg Guðnason, information officer at Fjarðabyggð.

Minister of Justice Jón Gunnarsson met with the police and rescue workers in the damaged areas, together with representatives of the Civil Defence. He says it will be clear what is needed to be done after the cabinet meeting, adding, “I consider it my duty as the minister to come here and learn about the situation and meet the people.”

Rescue teams had plenty of work to do in the East. Hjalti Þórarinn Ásmundsson from the Ársól rescue team in Reyðarfjörður says the team handled about 50-60 calls on Sunday and ten on Monday. Once the weather clears out, there will be a lot of cleaning to do.

“There is a lot of damage here, especially to houses and private property, trees in gardens have been uprooted and more,” says Hjalti.

The National Police Chief cancelled the danger level for public safety on Tuesday morning, but it is still a hard road ahead for the people of East Iceland.