Island Life: Rural Depopulation, Black Ice Wipeouts, Spontaneous Combustion

The common refrain is that while Reykjavík is experiencing a housing crisis, the countryside is emptying out. That’s certainly not the case in East Iceland, where there is growing demand for new apartments to be built. Most of these apartment buildings are slated to be raised in Eskifjörður and Reyðarfjörður. The east certainly is pretty, so the demand is understandable.

West Iceland has had the worst aspects of the Icelandic winter this year: sleet, freezing rain, and icy roads. In a single week, the area saw five car accidents and three “black ice” wipeouts. Fortunately, no major injuries were reported.

In the South Iceland town of Eyrarbakki, an unmanned car burst into flames for reasons that were not fully disclosed. No one was injured in the blaze, although for a short time it seemed the fire was going to spread to another car, but that vehicle was moved from the area. The car was completely consumed in the blaze, and how it caught fire in the first place is still unknown.