Editor's note: Runar Karlsson with Borea Adventures in Iceland provided this special glimpse of the volcanic eruption in Iceland for ATN readers. Our thoughts go out to the country, and the rest of Europe, during this crisis.
As many of you´ve heard the Eyjafjallajokull Glacier started erupting yesterday. The glacier is situated on the South coast and hasn't erupted for 200 years. That eruption lasted for two years. I hope this one will be shorter!
The main road is closed so there is no road connection between the Southwest part and the Southeast part of the country.
The main danger is from floods in a big glacier river that comes down from one of the subsidiary glaciers and spreads over the alluvial plains. Two floods happened yesterday and tonight was an emergency evacuation when the third flood came down the glacier river. The volcano is melting a lot of ice and when the crater fills up, it bursts down with a lot of force. The road administration decided to make a 50m gap in the road to save the bridge. It seems to have worked so far.
The ash is spreading over the farmlands. The best farms in the country. According the the news, the air was so thick this morning that it was like in middle of the night outside. It´s real stuff! Not like the "tourist" eruption in March a bit further East.
Now all flights are cancelled in most of the Northern hemisphere due to the ash that reaches up to 35-40.000 feet.
When the ash spreads more, flights will be allowed again.