Siglufjörður resident Torfi Þórarinsson compares yesterday’s weather in the North Iceland town to a tornado, RÚV reports. The bad weather was the worst he has ever experienced. Numerous trees were uprooted, the wind sent bikes and other loose items airborne, and it was impossible to be outdoors.
According to the Icelandic Met Office, the wind speed reached 40 m/sec. The Siglufjörður rescue team, Strákar, was called out and kept busy during the storm.
Torfi told RÚV the weather struck shortly after 2 pm. “I sat by the kitchen window and watched darkness suddenly fall in the fjord. It was as if a tornado hit and ocean waves came rolling in. A dredger out in the fjord took a 180-degree turn.”
Anything loose started flying: “Bikes, garbage cans, you name it, was blown along the streets. It lasted about two hours. I wanted to go out to take pictures, but there was no chance. My front door shook,” Torfi related.
He spoke of broken and uprooted trees, a trampoline that hit a car before shattering on the wall of a house. “To see bikes come at full speed along the road, followed by lawn chairs, was just like in a movie.”
Torfi doesn’t believe such a severe storm had been in the forecast. It simply took everyone by surprise.
