Jökull - 01.01.2021, Page 76

Gísladóttir et al.
eruptions pose a grave risk3 to the small farming com-
munity of Álftaver, which is situated on the Mýrdals-
sandur outwash plain some 35 kilometres away from
the volcano (Figure 1).
Records show that only two people have been
killed during Katla eruptions (Loftsson, 1930). These
deaths occurred in 1755 and were caused by associ-
ated lightning strikes at the farm Svínadalur in Skaft-
ártunga (Sigurðsson, 1755 in Loftsson 1930). Despite
the great risk that people have faced over the cen-
turies, no one is reported to have lost their lives to
jökulhlaups (Loftsson, 1930). Nevertheless, Katla
eruptions have had a severe effect on Álftaver’s pop-
ulation. Impacts of a Katla eruption, especially those
caused by tephra fall, last for decades ruining farm-
ing land, killing livestock and, ultimately, causing
farm abandonment (e.g. Sveinsson, 1919 in Lofts-
son 1930, Gísladóttir 1980, Gísladóttir and Margrétar-
dóttir 2004).
When Katla erupted in 1918 (Figure 2), there were
16 active farms in Álftaver (Table 1) and a popula-
tion of 129 people (The National Archices of Iceland
(Þjóðskjalasafn), no date). The population was young
with 49% below 18 years of age and only 4% older
than 60 years. A year later, three farms were aban-
doned, and the population had diminished by 17%.
By 1920, the population was 99.
As with many farming areas of Iceland, Álftaver’s
population has since diminished further. In 2019,
a total of 28 people lived on eight farms (personal
information, Sandra Brá Jóhannsdóttir head of the
Skaftárhreppur district, 12 August 2020), i.e. only
22% of the population prior to the 1918 eruption
(The National Archices of Iceland (Þjóðskjalasafn),
no date). However, this figure is not representative
of the actual number of people in the region at any
given time. As the region continues to diversify with
tourism (Bird and Gísladóttir 2018), a growing num-
ber of people travel through and stay overnight in
areas at risk to hazards produced by Katla (Pagneux
2015).
The next section details farmers’ experiences in
the lead up to and during the 1918 Katla eruption.
This information is based on oral stories passed down
to the lead author by relatives who experienced the
eruption and their descendants (see Acknowledge-
ments). Published accounts (Gíslason 1919, Sveins-
son, 1919 in Loftsson 1930, Oddsson 1968, and
Bjarnason 1985) translated in English by the lead au-
thor provide verification of these oral stories and fur-
ther context.
While the following descriptions of what peo-
ple experienced and felt during the 1918 Katla erup-
tion include accounts of jökulhlaups, tephra fall and
lightning hazards, our analysis focuses on outburst
flooding (jökulhlaups). Reasons for this are twofold.
Firstly, oral and written histories provide a very de-
tailed account of specific places impacted by the 1918
Katla jökulhlaups which enabled detailed mapping of
the flooding. Secondly, present-day emergency re-
sponse strategies, as described later in the paper, were
up until recently solely focused on mitigating the im-
pact of jökulhlaups.
Table 1. Farms in Álftaver in 1918 (16 in total).*
– Býli í Álftaveri 1918 (samtals 16 býli)*
Name of location Number of farms at location
Skálmarbæjarhraun 1
Skálmarbær 1
Holt 3
Jórvík 2
Herjólfsstaðir 2
Hraunbær 1
Norðurhjáleiga 1
Þykkvabæjaklaustur 2
Hraungerði 1
Sauðhúsnes 1
Mýrar 1
*Three farms became deserted after 1918 (Skálmar-
bæjarhraun, one of the Holt farms and Sauðhúsnes).
*Þrjú býli lögðust í eyði eftir Kötlugosið 1918 (Skálm-
arbæjarhraun, einn bæjanna í Holti og Sauðhúsnes).
3Here, risk is referring to ‘disaster risk’ which the UNISDR defines as: “The potential loss of life, injury, or destroyed or damaged assets
which could occur to a system, society or a community in a specific period of time, determined probabilistically as a function of hazard,
exposure, vulnerability and capacity.” https://www.undrr.org/terminology/disaster-risk
74 JÖKULL No. 71, 2021