Reykjavík Grapevine - 26.09.2014, Blaðsíða 35

Reykjavík Grapevine - 26.09.2014, Blaðsíða 35
35The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 15 — 2014 VOLCANO An hour later, we finally pull up to an outpost at the artificial border cross- ing into the closed-off eruption area. Kormákur tells us to mind the doors, as the wind is blowing hard now. Inside a shipping container that has been con- verted into makeshift living quarters, Gísli Sigmarsson and Hrund Snor- radóttir are wrapping up their dinner. As members of Iceland’s rescue team, the couple volunteered to monitor the area for the next 24 hours. Only scien- tists and the media, provided they have a permit and an Icelandic guide with them, are allowed to pass. The four of us—Grapevine photog- rapher Matthew Eisman, our guides and I—have travelled nearly 600 kilome- tres to catch a glimpse of Holuhraun, which is now the biggest lava eruption in Iceland since the 19th century. At the time of writing, it has spewed enough lava to fill every building in Iceland, or more than 8,000 Hallgrímskirkjas, if you prefer. We are filled anticipation, a mild sense of dread and a lingering feel- ing of disappointment—by the time we made it to Akureyri a few hours earlier, the eruption area had been completely closed off due to poisonous gases. We might not get to see anything. Hoping the closure was going to be temporary, we decided to keep going, but it was now fairly clear that our laboriously ob- tained permits would be of no use to us, at least not tonight. Our plans had been foiled by gas and southerly winds. A life or death matter “It’s unbearable in there,” Hrund tells us from inside the shipping container while Gísli communicates over the radio with the scientists who are on their way out. “Given the situation today—how much pollution there is and the fact that all of the scientists are leaving—I think it’s pretty unlikely that you’ll get in, but if there’s less pollution tomor- row, it’s a possibility.” Icelanders know all too well that eruptive gases—carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide—can be fatal. When Laki erupted in 1783-4, the gases had a devastating effect on the country, reportedly killing 60% of the livestock and almost 25% of the population. The “Laki Haze,” as it has been referred to, reached mainland Europe and some say contributed to the great famine there, which in turn led to the French Revolution. Poisonous gas was also respon- sible for the only casualty of the Hei- maey eruption in 1973. “That’s a sad story,” says Gísli, who we learn, was a refugee of that eruption. “I was always told growing up that nobody died in the eruption except well, one drunk or drug addict from Reykjavík who was trying to steal drugs from the pharmacy. But this man, who had been at sea, had ac- tually lived in the Westman Islands for a few years, and he had gone into the pharmacy to get painkillers after hav- ing been in an accident. It’s sad that all these years we’ve had the wrong idea about this man. It was like he didn’t matter.” Gísli was one of the 5,200 people evacuated to the mainland after the unexpected eruption began just after midnight in the middle of the winter. His partner Hrund recounts: “When my mother-in-law was on the boat with Gísli, a two-years-old boy at the time— she didn’t know it would turn out so well. You can imagine, if you put your- self in that position, the island is on fire and molten rock is rain- ing over, and you don’t know what’s going to happen.” Although the evac- uation was successful, and the Westman Is- landers even managed to save their harbour from being closed off by the new lava, the eruption buried half the town in ash and left it uninhabitable for six months. It was a devastating event for those who lost their homes, and a great number of people nev- er returned. The gas, of course, lingered long after the eruption. “It sits in all of the recesses, and depletes the oxygen. When people drove into lower-lying areas, the car sometimes just stopped working,” Gísli recalls, at once noting the same danger in the Holuhraun area. “Everyone who goes into the eruption area must have a gas mask, and people are advised to stay within five minutes of their car so that they can quickly drive away if gases rise to dangerous levels.” He emphasises that the area is not being closed just for the fun of it, and brings up the three Icelanders who were caught in the area without a permit not once, but twice. The second time, they had gone disguised as ge- ologists, wearing hel- mets and yellow vests. They even had a sign made for their truck that read, “Íslenskar jarðrannsóknir” (“Ice- landic Earth Studies”). “There’s a reason for closing the area, and people have to respect that,” Gísli says. “I can feel the gas even just walking around here, and the wind is not even coming directly at us—it irritates your throat, you feel it on your lips.” “Everyone who goes into the eruption area must have a gas mask, and people are ad- vised to stay within five minutes of their car so that they can quickly drive away if gas levels rise to dan- gerous levels.” Continues on P.36 FOR THE BEST PRICE BOOK ONLINE AT: AIRICELAND.IS Check it out!
Blaðsíða 1
Blaðsíða 2
Blaðsíða 3
Blaðsíða 4
Blaðsíða 5
Blaðsíða 6
Blaðsíða 7
Blaðsíða 8
Blaðsíða 9
Blaðsíða 10
Blaðsíða 11
Blaðsíða 12
Blaðsíða 13
Blaðsíða 14
Blaðsíða 15
Blaðsíða 16
Blaðsíða 17
Blaðsíða 18
Blaðsíða 19
Blaðsíða 20
Blaðsíða 21
Blaðsíða 22
Blaðsíða 23
Blaðsíða 24
Blaðsíða 25
Blaðsíða 26
Blaðsíða 27
Blaðsíða 28
Blaðsíða 29
Blaðsíða 30
Blaðsíða 31
Blaðsíða 32
Blaðsíða 33
Blaðsíða 34
Blaðsíða 35
Blaðsíða 36
Blaðsíða 37
Blaðsíða 38
Blaðsíða 39
Blaðsíða 40
Blaðsíða 41
Blaðsíða 42
Blaðsíða 43
Blaðsíða 44
Blaðsíða 45
Blaðsíða 46
Blaðsíða 47
Blaðsíða 48
Blaðsíða 49
Blaðsíða 50
Blaðsíða 51
Blaðsíða 52
Blaðsíða 53
Blaðsíða 54
Blaðsíða 55
Blaðsíða 56

x

Reykjavík Grapevine

Beinir tenglar

Ef þú vilt tengja á þennan titil, vinsamlegast notaðu þessa tengla:

Tengja á þennan titil: Reykjavík Grapevine
https://timarit.is/publication/943

Tengja á þetta tölublað:

Tengja á þessa síðu:

Tengja á þessa grein:

Vinsamlegast ekki tengja beint á myndir eða PDF skjöl á Tímarit.is þar sem slíkar slóðir geta breyst án fyrirvara. Notið slóðirnar hér fyrir ofan til að tengja á vefinn.