Flooding has begun to affect the eastern industrial area of Vík í Mýrdal, a town on Iceland’s southern coast, with water reaching houses and covering roads, according to initial reporting by mbl.is.
Orri Björnsson, who was involved in the response, said, “We have been carrying out evacuations and now it’s starting to flood houses.” This quote was reported by mbl.is.
Authorities had anticipated the highest wave and tidal surges to occur around 21:00, as weather conditions intensified along the coast.
While mbl.is first reported flooding over roads, RÚV noted that it is considered unlikely that the sea flowed over Route 1, Iceland’s main national road, east of Vík í Mýrdal. Nonetheless, the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration (Vegagerðin) and local rescue teams were ready to close the road due to wave heights exceeding forecasts. In December last year, similar conditions had seen water flow over the same road, according to the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration.
Einar Freyr commented, “This went better than expected, it eroded a bit, luckily this time,” as reported by Vísir.
Sources
- mbl.is (first reported) in Icelandic
- RÚV in Icelandic
- Vísir in Icelandic
Image: Bob T / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · licence, original (resized) Illustrative image.
