Slippery road conditions have been reported across Iceland with snowfall in some locations, including by Kirkjubæjaklaustur in South Iceland and in the entire northeastern region. In East Iceland some roads remain impassible since last weekend’s spell.
Archive photo by Páll Stefánsson.
In North Iceland local authorities are busy with clearing streets of snow. Dalvík hadn’t seen so much snowfall in ten years and in Akureyri 25 machines were used for snow shoveling yesterday, ruv.is reports.
Hundreds of reports of damages following the storm and blizzard that struck the country have been received by insurance companies, both concerning buildings and vehicles.
Roofing slates and loose objects were scattered by the storm and in one case the cover of a building was torn off in its entirety, ruv.is reports.
The storm also caused blackouts in Southwest Iceland and disrupted mobile phone connections in South Iceland.
Neyðarlínan, the emergency hotline 112, and telecoms Síminn and Vodafone are now collaborating on improving mobile phone connections near Mýrdalsjökull glacier, an area which must be evacuated in case of a volcanic eruption in Katla and glacier outburst.
The Civil Protection Department and ICE-SAR have expressed concern that the mobile phone network isn’t reliable enough in this area.
ESA
