Several residents of Seyðisfjörður, East Iceland, can return to their homes now that the evacuation order on Hafnargata street has been lifted. The order applies to the houses standing under Múlinn: numbers 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16b, and 18c on Hafnargata street. Further risk of mudslides is no longer considered imminent and the National Police Commissioner and the Police Commissioner in East Iceland have decided to lower the civil protection phase in the town from danger alert to uncertainty phase. Danger alert has been in effect from December 20, when it was reduced from crisis phase, due to a large mudslide which fell last December 18.
Cleaning has been ongoing in the East Iceland town since several mudslides destroyed over a dozen buildings in the town, both residential and industrial, many of them historic. The houses under Múlinn have all been evacuated since December 18, when the largest of several mudslides fell on the town.
A notice from the Civil Protection and Emergency Management Department says cleaning efforts have been successful in recent weeks, and emergency levees to protect from further landslides have been completed in some areas. Further risk of mudslides is being closely monitored and “is not considered imminent in the coming days.” The levees are considered an interim solution while more permanent mudslide protection is being considered.
Read More: Seyðisfjörður Mudslides Destroy 14 Houses
Four residential buildings in the town, located by Stöðvarlækur creek, still remain evacuated. A specific risk assessment is being conducted for that area and results are expected in the next few days. Residents of the town have been warned to expect further evacuations in the coming months “if weather conditions become unfavourable or the weather forecast is for heavy rain.”
