Due to fissures in the mountainsides above Eskifjörður growing wider, some areas in town will be evacuated due to the risk of landslides. The National Police Commissioner has raised the level of alert for the town.
After a week of extreme rainfall, devastating landslides have hit the town of Seyðisfjörður in east Iceland. Eskifjörður is further south and has had less, but still a significant amount of rainfall. Mountainsides are saturated with water and today, fissures in an old road above the town have grown wider. Landslides have fallen in the vicinity of the town but not on any residential areas, so far. In light of the situation, the Iceland Meteorological Office has requested that areas of Eskifjörður directly underneath the widening fissures be evacuated. Residents in the evacuation zone are asked to register at the Red Cross Emergency Response Centre at 2, Dalbraut, or call 1717.
Evacuation in Seyðisfjörður is ongoing and residents will be taken by bus to nearby Egilsstaðir. Most people in town have already left and emergency responders are working on finding them a place to stay for the night, RÚV reports.
Announcement from the office of the National Commissioner of Police and the Chief of Police in East Iceland.
Alert level raised to Danger in response to the threat of landslides in Eskifjörður, East Iceland.
The National Commissioner of Police, in consultation with the Commissioner of Police in East Iceland and the Icelandic Meteorological Office, has raised the alert level in Eskifjörður in response to the risk of landslides.
Fissures in the mountains around Oddskarðsvegur, above Eskifjörður, have enlarged over the course of the day due to significant rainfall. The Meteorological Office recommends that Botnabraut, Hátún, Helgafell, Lambeyrarbraut, Hólsvegur and Strandgata be evacuated. Residents of those streets are asked to register at the Icelandic Red Cross emergency shelter in the church at Dalbraut 2 or call directly the Red Cross Helpline 1717.
