“The eruption in Eyjafjallajökull is many times larger than the eruption in Fimmvörduháls,” says Vídir Reynisson, who manages the Icelandic Civil Protection Department.
The volcanic eruption on Fimmvörduháls. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
Information gathered from scientists on board the Coast Guard airplane TF-SIF shows that the total length of the fissure is about two kilometers, he says. The fissure lies north-south, ruv.is reports.
A huge flood is on its way down the Markarfljót sands and the old bridge is submerged. To try and save the new Markarfljót bridge, the Ring Road was broken up to the east of the river.
Substantial damage could be on its way. Reynisson says it is too early at the moment to predict whether farms or livestock could be in danger.
Both sides of the glacier are flooded, as the stream of water also comes down by the Thorvaldseyri farm beneath Eyjafjallajökull.
It also appears to be a very powerful flood. Reynisson says that everything points to the fissure extending over the watershed, north and south of the glacier.
Response teams need to have a route that is as easy as possible to the danger area in the vicinity of Eyjafjallajökull and so it is important that people do not drive along the southern Ring Road unnecessarily.
The Hvolsvöllur police have shut off the road for all traffic between Hella and Skógar. Large, increasing floods are in Markarfljót and in rivers by Thorvaldseyri, south of Eyjafjallajökull, and so all unnecessary traffic in the area is banned.
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