Jökull - 01.01.2001, Qupperneq 86

Tómas Jóhannesson and Þorsteinn Arnalds
Figure 5. Fatal avalanche accidents in unpopulated
areas in Iceland in the period 1801–2000. The
numbers include accidents on rural roads and in the
mountains. – Dauðsföll af völdum snjóflóða utan
byggðar á Íslandi á tímabilinu 1801–2000. Um er að
ræða slys á þjóðvegum og í óbyggðum.
Table 3. Recent fatal avalanche accidents in populated
areas. – Dauðaslys af völdum snjóflóða á byggð á
nýliðnum áratugum.
Date Location Fatalities
20-12-1974 Neskaupstaður 12
22-01-1983 Patreksfjörður 4
04-05-1994 Tungudalur, Skutulsfirði 1
16-01-1995 Súðavík 14
18-01-1995 Grund, Reykhólahreppi 1
26-10-1995 Flateyri 20
Total 52
The number of deaths in avalanche accidents in
the 26 year period between 1974 and 2000 may not
be representative of the current avalanche risk in Ice-
land because catastrophic accidents occurred near the
beginning and end of the time period. One must,
however, note that a considerable number of residen-
tial buildings have been built in avalanche hazard ar-
eas in Iceland since 1974 so that one may expect the
avalanche risk to have increased during this period.
ECONOMIC LOSS
The economic loss that has been inflicted by
avalanches and landslides in Iceland has been enor-
mous. It is convenient to divide this loss into three
components. First, the direct loss due to damaged
buildings and infrastructure and properties such as
roads or subsurface constructions which may be aban-
doned after an avalanche accident, etc. The direct loss
is mainly borne by an insurance operated by the state,
the Iceland Catastrophe Insurance. Rebuilding of in-
frastructure after an accident and compensation for
properties, which are not insured by the Iceland Catas-
trophe Insurance, may partly be financed by funds
established from private donations after an accident.
Second, the cost of rescue and relief operations and
other such operational cost associated with an acci-
dent. The operational cost is mainly paid by the state.
Third, the direct and indirect economic loss due to
the disruption of the local society where an avalanche
accident occurs. This cost is not paid by a definite in-
stitute or agency and is not included the analysis pre-
sented here.
The direct loss and the cost of rescue and re-
lief operations are summarised in Table 4 (August
2000 price levels and dollar exchange rate (80.43
IKR/USD)).
The table shows that most of the cost is caused by
snow avalanches hitting populated areas (about 90%).
The bulk of the cost is caused by the three largest acci-
dents in Neskaupstaður 1974 (1030 million IKR, 12.8
million USD), Súðavík 1995 (600 million IKR, 7.4
million USD) and Flateyri 1995 (730 million IKR, 9.1
million USD), which also caused the vast majority of
the fatal accidents (46 of the 52 fatalities that have oc-
curred in populated areas since 1974).
The estimated economic loss includes insurance
payments due to damaged buildings and infrastruc-
ture, the cost of rescue operations, and the cost of
various rebuilding financed by the government and
funds established from private donations. It is based
on information about payments of the Iceland Catas-
trophe Insurance since 1983 and about the economic
damage associated with the accident in Neskaup-
staður in 1974. The operational cost is based on
86 JÖKULL No. 50