Iceland Continued

Day Four in Iceland

Vestmannaeyjar (the Westman Islands) are an archipelago of 15 islands off the southern coast of Iceland. One of the islands (Surtsey) is brand new. It appeared in 1963. It is a Unesco World Heritage Site. It is a unique natural laboratory. Scientists have actually been able to track the evolution of life forms on brand new land here. 

Only one of the Westman Islands is inhabited. That is Heimaey. To get there from Bogarnes involves a long drive through unbelievable landscapes and a ferry ride. Today was another super scary driving day, so scary I wanted to cry. But I couldn't because I was driving. Picture curving mountain roads very very high in the sky with no guard rails. 

In the middle of the night of January 23, 1973, the residents of the island of Heimaey were woken up by the eruption of the Eldfell volcano. Although this would seem to be an incredibly unlucky event, the people of the little fishing were blessed that night: there had been a storm the night before, so all of the fishing vessels were still in the harbour. Over the course of the next 3 hours, the entire population was evacuated. 

The volcano continued to erupt for the next six months. The eruption was officially declared complete on July 3, 1973.  A third of the town was demolished, and another third was covered in tephra (volcanic particles). One third was left untouched. 

During the course of the eruption, volunteers blocked streets to try to divert the flow of lava. A complex pumping and transportation system was installed on the active lava fields to divert cool sea water into the lava flow. The volunteers who did this were called the 'Suicide Squad' because of the dangerous work they were doing. Thankfully, there were no fatalities. 

You see these signs all over Iceland. We were walking here, so I was finally able to take a picture!

The most important part of the island that needed to be saved was the harbour. If the lava were to flow unchecked into the harbour and block it, it would destroy the fishing industry and livelihood of the people of Heimaey. 

The cheerful stoicism of the Icelandic people is exemplified in the story of Heimaey. These people saw their homes and businesses destroyed, but most of them came back and started the hard labour of digging their town out and rebuilding. There is a fabulous museum and a few monuments to the event. 

Where the lava stopped flowing

The lava stopped flowing in the back room of this house.