Timeline

2020

December 13th

Alarm raised on possible landslides
The Icelandic Meteorological Office raises alarm on enhanced probability of landslides and falling rocks in the Eastfjords.

"Well, off course it had been raining and raining and raining" Elsa Guðný Björgvinsdóttir

December 15th

Ólafía Stefánsdóttir, resident in Seyðisfjörður, is going for her regular walk but cancels because of unusually heavy rain

A landslide falls on Botnahlíð 17
The mud reaches up to the windows.
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A mudslide falls
At around 14:45, another landslide falls.

A landslide falls on Skaftfell
Haukur Óskarsson, the man who runs Skaftfell Bistro, says that he can’t open the doors of the house because the mud keeps them shut.
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“I was looking up at the mountain side when it started moving. It is safe to say that the sight was very spectacular.”
Hanna Christel Sigurkarlsdóttir witnesses when the landslide falls.
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The Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management declares an uncertainty phase.

The Operations Control activated

Houses vacated in a part of section C
Around 120 residents need to vacate their houses
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A mass remedial station opened

The Icelandic Red Cross opened up a mass remedial station in Herðubreið community centre but when most need to, 67 people reside there during the day even though none need to overnight there.

"We had staff in a fisherman’s hut which is located in a danger area. We vacated immediately. Safety is above all and that is what we work by”
Ómar Bogason at Síldarvinnslan

Another landslide fallsThe landslide reaches two houses that had already been vacated

Kristján Torr narrates
“In the evening I write a log in my diary where I describe how the feeling that God has forsaken Seyðisfjörður surrounds me. Later that same evening I chuckle at the thought of how mellow-dramatic I can be. Even though I try to calm myself with thoughts of how idiotic those diary logs are, loud rumbles from the mountain can be heard way into the night which makes it hard to fall asleep.”
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"It was surreal to go for a walk during the quarantine because you were allowed to do so if you didn’t meet anybody on the walk. Whilst all the other residents met in Herðubreið and discussed matters, we were shut in and apart from everybody."
Nanna Vibe Spejlborg Juelsbo, a resident of Seyðisfjörður, was quarantined when the first landslides fell. She thought it surreal to be allowed to go for walks but not chat with people and then not be able to meet others in Herðubreið.

Natural disaster in Iceland
A piece of a scholarly article by Guðný Ósk Guðnadóttir.
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December 16th

Clean-up work begins
It is a complicated task to clear the mud and freshet of the area as well as clearing it from basements where water from the landslide is still flowing.

Avalanche
A piece of a scholarly article by Guðný Ósk Guðnadóttir.
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December 17th

Evacuation still in effect
Around 100 residents are yet not allowed to return to their homes, however they are allowed to collect personal items if accompanied by rescue workers. 22nd

Overflowing sewage system
Firefighters at East Iceland Fire Protection work on cleaning and pumping water from the overcrowded sewer system and into the sea. This relieves the high-load system considerably, with 3,000-4,000 liters pumped out per minute.

Clean-up work is taking a long time
Clean-up continues, but because much land and mud is still coming down the mountainside it is taking longer than expected. Workers are using heavy machinery to guide the water that flows down the mountain into a new channel.

Kristján Torr narrates
“I see a man taking fuel in the middle of a mudslide which is still moving and I think to myself that this is a unique incident on an international scale.”
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COVID-19 causes worry
“In an environment like this, one infected person can turn everything upside down,” says Jens Hilmarsson captain at the East Iceland Police Department.
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"It's not often that you hope it starts snowing soon, but you do now"
Guðjón Már Jónsson, a civil protection delegate at Ísólfur rescue team

December 18th

A landslide falls from Nautaklauf
At 1 in the morning a landslide falls from the same channel as the biggest landslide that fell on December 15th.

 A landslide falls on Breiðablik at Austurvegur 38
At three in the morning the landslide snatches a deserted house and moves it by 50 meters.
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At three in the morning Ólafía Stefánsdóttir is awaken for evacuation
The action in Herðubreið is such that she loses her backpack and it is found the next day in the middle of the floor and her shirt is in a puddle.

Following the landslides, the evacuation zone is expanded and people are urged to stay put

A mass remedial station opened
Around 120 people need to abandon their homes.

“It has never happened to me before that my fire-fighters outfit got wet all the way through”
Haraldur Geir Eðvaldsson, fire marshal in Seyðisfjörður, has more than enough on his plate with pumping water out of basements and out of the sewers which do not manage at this point. Fire fighters are now working at the edge of the danger zone.

Landslide matter surrounds the gas station
Because of mud it is not possible to use the fuel pumps at Orkan gas station.
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The Natural Catastrophe Insurance of Iceland personnel explore conditions
They try to assess the magnitude of the catastrophe, prepare organization on assessment activities, and authorize actions to prevent further damage.

“We are careful and we have transceivers in all machines. We have had one message just this morning telling us to back out. At that time, the mountain was making a rumble. Ten minutes later we got permission to start again”
Kári Ólason, foreman at Múlaþing, about the landslide clean-up work.
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Landslides
A piece of a scholarly article by Guðný Ósk Guðnadóttir.
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“This is such a bad season for things like these to happen. One can does not see what is happening. We only get like three hours of daylight per day which makes it almost impossible to assess. There’s only darkness and rain.”
Þórunn Hrund Óladóttir

Búðarfoss turns pitch black
Just before three o’clock the flow of the waterfall is unusually low and it changes colour.

Haraldur Björn Halldórsson, resident in Seyðisfjörður describes how the waterfall seems to triple in size and becomes pitch black

Tremendous rumble breaks out

Is only able to hear the rumble but does not see anything because of all the rain
Jóhann Grétar Einarsson, resident in Seyðisfjörður is located on the other side of the fjord

A large mudslide falls
Around one-hundred-metre-long piece of the mountain comes lose, tumbles down the mountainside and takes an immense amount of soil with it in the fall.

„It was like in a horror movie. You look at your back yard and the mountain you grew up with just explode.”
Jafet Sigfinnsson is located in his home along with his brother and father when he sees the landslide coming towards them.
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Kristján Torr narrates
“ […] then all of a sudden, I hear a bang all the way into my skull. The whole town becomes dark and the first thing I think to myself is that something unnamed has awoken and it needs the darkness to create something horrific.
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A power outage in a part of the town

People are seen running away from the landslide and out of their houses

Kristinn Már Jóhannesson fire fighter runs to the scene
It is an unreal experience to see the landslide fall down on the town.
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Avalanche protection saves Aðalheiður Borgþórsdóttir‘s home
The dam guides the landslide in a different direction, but when it has become full of mud and water it splashes up dozens of meters.

„I run through the mud faster than I have ever run in my entire lifetime and fall straight into the arms of my mother and sister”
Jafet Sigfinnsson runs out of his house along with his father, brother, and their dog. When they are out on the street, they meet members of the rescue team who were also in the area when the landslide fell, and they tell them where they can safely go.

Nanna Vibe Spejlborg Juelsbo catches a glimpse of the landslide and tells her boyfriend to put on his shoes because they must start running

“I don’t know if we were moving or if the landslide was moving, at least I manage to pull the man out, we get out and somehow manage to swim out of the landslide”
Davíð Kristinsson, vice-chairman at Ísólfur rescue team, saves his friend from a rescue team vehicle which encounters the landslide.
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„I had the same feeling, that we would never survive this”
Sigfinnur Mikaelsson sees how a landslide starts flowing and is heading towards his home where he and his two sons are located.

The landslide branches into three
“If you look at an aerial photograph of this you can see that the landslide splits at a so called Múli, which is a ridge in the mountain. It steers the landslide inland and outwards, leaving a small triangle. We were stranded between two floods. Now I call it the Mósesmúli. It saved us all,” says Bjarki Borgþórson.

„We thought that the house would collapse on us“
Brimir Christophersson Büchel, 11 years, is located in his home Þórshamar along with his father when the landslide starts flowing and they run down towards the pier.
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Jóhann Björn Sveinbjörnsson is located in the golf pavilion along with his friends
One of them receives a phone call and is informed that Múlavegur is collapsing.

„It seems like this is it for me dear Siggi, I’ll say goodbye now”
Sigurður Snæbjörn Stefánsson receives a phone call from his father who is located in a house straight below the landslide. His father sees how the landslide flows towards him and says goodbyes to his son, but in a fateful moment the landslide branches in two and continues its course alongside the house.

Inside the town the landslide spans a seven-hectare area and is approximately 300 meters long

„Then you saw the poor rescue workers running at full speed. It was traumatic to watch”
Þórarinn Sigurður Andrésson runs down to the pier to save himself from the landslide.
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“Off course people are taken aback by this but thankfully no people were injured. That is what is most important”
Ásgeir Magnússon

A small mistake will cost him his life
Elvar Már Kjartansson is working at Skipasmíðastöðin when he hears the landslide fall.
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The landslide falls on the Technical Museum of East Iceland
The landslide falls first on Turninn and Nýja Skipasmíðastöðin and snatches Gamla Skipasmíðastöðin and a part of the lathe workshop as well.

Zuhaits Akizu, director of the Technical Museum receives a phone call informing him that the museum landed under the landslide

"The mountain is coming! Gulla, stop! Stop! Back up now!"
Guðlaug Vala Smáradóttir and Rósa Lilja back up a truck to get away from the landslide.
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“I am all right but Skipasmíðastöðin is gone and probably also a part of the museum too”
Zuhaitz Akizu calls Elvar Már Kjartansson who was working at the Shipyard when the landslide started.

Catastrophe and cultural heritage
A piece of a scholarly article by Guðný Ósk Guðnadóttir.
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All rescue teams in the East of Iceland are activated
Police officers from the capital and from the North-East police department are sent to the scene along with the task force from National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police.

“She was acting crazy before it all started happening. It made me look up to the mountain and see that everything was moving, I put on my boots and went outside”
Sigríður Guðlaugsdóttir says that her dog Hekla saved her when the landslide fell alongside her home, destroying everything in its path.

“I would call the big one a catastrophe flooding, because it did not behave like a landslide”
Guðrún Ásta Tryggvadóttir

“People were running in the streets in their underwear which is not surprising because the rumble was so tremendous, I felt like the mountain was collapsing on the town”
An anonymous resident in Seyðisfjörður

“I do not know what it is, serenity or something… but I would not have wanted to miss this sight. It was tremendous, just to feel this, this power”
Haraldur Björn Halldórsson

Evacuation area expanded
Residents in Botnahlíð, Brattahlíð, Múlavegur, Brekkuvegur, Baugsvegur, Hafnargata, Fossagata and parts of Túngata, Miðtún and Austurvegur are asked to vacate the area and report to the mass remedial station.

“I must confess that I have never before in my lifetime been as afraid”
Guðni Sigmundsson rescue team worker is located in the rescue team house moments before the landslide hits the house.
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Still unconfirmed if anybody got trapped under the landslide

“There were people in four of the houses that the landslide hit and they did not shatter. That was strange. All the surrounding houses were destroyed, but not the ones that had people in them”
Aðalheiður Borgþórsdóttir

“It was a massive landslide and this is all just horrible. The people here are just hugging and crying”
Ómar Bogason

People had to be picked up in the landslide area by boat
The landslide went over the road and out to the sea.

The civil protection phase in Seyðisfjörður is ascended from alert phase to emergency phase

The whole town is to be evacuated
Everybody who is located in town is supposed to report at the mass remedial station at Herðubreið.

The feeling was “not so good”
Jóhann Björn Sveinsson, resident in Seyðisfjörður for just shy of 88 years depicts how the evacuation process was phlegmatic, he is one of the last people to evacuate the town.

People gather in Herðubreið
Residents describe different experiences of the circumstances in Herðubreið after the big landslide.

Mass remedial station opened in the gymnasium in Egilsstaðir

“We were all there together in a big hall in Egilsstaðir elementary school where we were extremely well received. People gathered there and were just like one big family”
Jóhann Björn Sveinbjörnsson

“There was a trail of cars going down the mountainside, it was like a peculiar scene from a movie, a chain of lights all the way across the mountain”
Guðrún Ásta Tryggvadóttir

People from Seyðisfjörður are offered lodgings
Various parties, companies and individuals offer lodgings to residents of Seyðisfjörður.

The coast guard ship Týr is sent to Seyðisfjörður

The Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management confirms that nobody is missing after the landslides, just over three hours after they fell

The whole town has been evacuated
Around 25-30 years have passed since a whole town was evacuated last.

“The whole superstructure, the Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management and the meteorological institute and the ones that were supposed to keep us informed and alert us completely flaked out”
Guðrún Ásta Tryggvadóttir depicts the disappointment over lack of information and evacuation reaction.

705 individuals report at the mass remedial stations
540 people register at Egillstaðir and 165 in Eskifjörður.

All traffic in Seyðisfjörður is forbidden

Síldarvinnslan sends the ships Polar Amaroq and Beitir to Seyðisfjörður to light up the mountain side

“The downpour soon ceases. Then we will start clean-up work. After that we will rebuild. We will also stand united through that”
Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, president of Iceland, sends greetings to the people of Seyðisfjörður.

All individuals from Seyðisfjörður have gotten a lodging
Nobody needs to spend the night at the mass remedial station which the Red Cross opened up in Egilsstaðir elementary school. Townspeople have had supper and accommodation has been found for over 500 people.

The downpour in Seyðisfjörður has broken all records
From the 14th to the 18th of December the cumulative precipitation in Seyðisfjörður is 569 mm, but so much precipitation in so little time has never before been recorded in Iceland. The rain in Reykjavík equals to approximately 860 mm per year.

“Landslides usually fall here during the autumn rain in august. But to think that it should rain continuously for a fortnight in December. I don’t think that anybody remembers perception at that time of year”
Sigfinnur Mikaelsson

A landslide falls
At around seven o’clock in the morning a landslide falls just south of Búðará but it is believed that it did not cause much damage. Nonetheless the landslide points to instability in the sedimentary strata

Because of possible landslides The Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management still have an uncertainty phase active in East Iceland

“It is quite a big deal to evacuate every living thing from the fjord. Besides the people there are a hundred cats, hens, and goldfishes”
Svandís Egildsóttir says that it was a miracle that nobody lost their life.

Electricity is back up again in most parts of the town
Míla’s equipment house is still without electricity.
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Residents of Seyðisfjörður do not receive permission to return to their homes today
Evacuation is still in effect and the emergency phase has not yet been relieved.
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“We don’t have a clue of what the town will look like when we receive permission to return. We also do not know what’s going to happen”
Páll Thamrong Snorrason describes uncertainty amongst the townspeople
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Kristján Torr narrates
„Call the vet, ask for advice, get a cage, obtain sedatives, and construct a plan for cat rescue. Who has a boat if the rescue team does not allow for sailing? If they don’t open up soon, should I put on a helmet and kayak myself to collect kitty? Speculations…”

Harmony with people
“This harmony that everybody feels, that we’re in this together. They feel this support everywhere they go,” says Ólöf Margrét Snorradóttir, pastor at Egilsstaðir church.
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The big landslide is of a different nature
Tómas Jóhannesson, landslide specialist at The Icelandic Meteorological Office says that the situation needs to be reassessed.
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Heavy precipitation 
Excerpts from an academic compilation by Vigdís Hlíf Sigurðardóttir.
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The Technical Museum quite wrecked
The building that housed the museums holdings, printing workshop, offices, and archives is now buried under mud and dirt.
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“I think that nothing was damaged but clearly it was very unfortunate and calls for a re-evaluation on where we will base our field station here in Seyðisfjörður”
Jens Hilmarsson, captain at the East Iceland Police Department and field manager in Seyðisfjörður after a landslide fell on the rescue team building..

Everything has gone smooth at the Red Cross mass remedial station in Egilsstaðir
A considerable amount of people has taken refuge in the Red Cross mass remedial station in Egilsstaðir today.
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Baldur Pálsson, a member of the search and rescue team, asks himself if they acted according to the contingency plan and whether it had been rehearsed sufficiently.

“And then I woke up this morning and I was supposed to christen a child today and my first thought was that I did not have anything else than rubber boots. I certainly was not going to stand and christen a child wearing rubber boots”
Sigríður Rún Tryggvadóttir, pastor in Seyðisfjörður.
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The atmosphere is quieter and the town is lighted with Christmas lights
Seyðisfjörður is now quiet and calm. The town is lighted with Christmas lights and some people have forgotten to turn off the lights in their homes before they evacuated the town.

It is not guaranteed that everybody will get their furnishings compensated
According to the temporary assessment of the Natural Catastrophe insurance of Iceland, a loss of assets because of the mudslides in Seyðisfjörður is valued at around one billion Icelandic krónas.
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Because of the danger of possible landslides, Seyðisfjörður is still in emergency phase and East-Iceland is still in uncertainty phase

The response party, the Icelandic Meteorological Office and local administration have a meeting
Þórhallur Árnason chief at the East-Iceland police department says that specialists at The Icelandic Meteorological Office and Efla engineering firm evaluated conditions in the area yesterday and assessed a possible continuance of the landslides.
“We hope that we will be able to inform residents in the area of the status before lunch today,” says Þórhallur.

“My feeling was just to leave and never return, the most disgusting town in the world [laughs], but that soon changed and you just wanted to go home”
Guðlaug Vala Smáradóttir returned to her home as soon as she had permission.

Skipasmíðastöðin, the lathe workshop and the machine workshop are completely destroyed
Two storehouses were also damaged.
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Evacuation partly relieved
There is still a risk of landslides in certain areas and evacuation will still be active in those areas. The residents that live outside of those areas will be allowed to return to their homes.

305 are now allowed to return to areas that are no longer considered danger areas
581 residents left Seyðisfjörður because of evacuations.

Lack of intel about the evacuation process in English
Interviewees point out that there are residents from over 30 countries living in the area and that the needs of non-Icelandic speakers should have been considered with more care.

Emergency phase changed to alert phase

Two thirds can now return to their homes
“I dread the sight of it. It almost only happened in darkness and we didn’t see anything. I don’t want to return home tonight,” says Hrönn Ólafsdóttir.
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Kristján Torr narrates
„Straight down to the maintenance station, argue with the police and make them understand that I am a difficult individual and that they will not get rid of me until my kitty is safe. But the answer is a hard NO. nobody enters that area.”
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“And with the wind comes the anxiety
Outside is the pitch-black blizzard
And the mountain screams and then the whole side tumbles
And the houses vanish into the drift”
Davíð Kristinsson, vice-chairman at Ísólfur rescue team, says that the destruction is inexpressible and connects his experience to the song “With the wind comes the anxiety” by Bubbi Morthens.
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276 residents are still not allowed to return to their homes

„It‘s always good to be home even though everything is really strange. Perhaps the customers are few, but that is not the most important thing. We need to get started again and continue with our lives”
Marko Nikolic, owner of the supermarket opens up the store again.

The museum commission agrees to spend up to one million krónas on emergency assistance for Technical Museum of East Iceland

All response parties and people in media are to get tested
Emphasis is put on disease control because of Covid-19.

A residents’ meeting held over the internet
The purpose is to inform the townspeople of the status and give them an opportunity to ask questions.

“We completely underestimated the conditions because we did not expect a landslide of this magnitude”
Harpa Grímsdóttir, programme director of the avalanche watch at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, says that specialists at the Icelandic Meteorological Office did not expect a large landslide in the area, but the landslide that fell south of Búðará is the largest one that has ever fallen in a town or a city in Iceland.
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The mountainside is still being assessed

Kristján Torr narrates
„Before I know it, we are docked at the pier at home, the house looks whole and it is go-time like they say in Hollywood, 5 minutes in and out!”
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Preparation for a future monitoring system has begun

“This town is completely different from how it looked like a few days ago. Here everything is Christmassy, calm, and just like a picture in a postcard”
Kristinn Már Jóhannesson

Ministers visit Seyðisfjörður
The reaction of townspeople is various
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Kristján Torr narrates
„When the anticipation reaches a highpoint a group of journalists barges into the hall and the national government walks in to have their picture taken with “the poor people”
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"„We need to be considerate when we start digging up people’s homes”
Guðbrandur Örn Arnarson, operations controller, says that they have a great task ahead of them.
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“You can’t help being moved by the actions of the marvellous Icelanders that have helped us”
Berglind Sveinsdóttir, director of the Red Cross in Múlasýsla, says that the people of Iceland have sent various gifts and contributions to the people of Seyðisfjörður.

A boat is taken across the fjord and they start working on handpicking from the landslide
Guðlaug Vala Smáradóttir, resident in the area and former employee of the Technical Museum participates in the operations and is brought in because of her expertise to have an overview of the museum’s holdings.
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Clearing Hafnargata of mud and wreckage is a top priority so the street can be open for traffic again

The Blue Shield in cooperation with the rescue teamsThe international organisation that work to preserve endangered cultural heritage help the rescue teams because of the destruction of the Technical Museum of East Iceland.

Around one hundred people get permission to return to their homes
The homes of around 200 residents are still to be evacuated.

Around 8.000 undamaged photographs salvaged from the landslide
Members of the search and rescue team of East Iceland find a safe belonging to the Technical Museum and contains thousands of old photographs from the history of Seyðisfjörður along with various documents.

“I went there as a member of the search and rescue team and we found the safe. I was the one to find it because I knew where in the house it had been kept”
Baldur Pálsson, member of the search and rescue team.
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Davíð Kristinsson exhilarated with a signed copy of the Bubbi collection
Davíð lost all his vinyl records in the disaster, but Alda Music gives him new copies of Bubbi’s records signed by the artist himself. Bubbi also held a special concert for the people of Seyðisfjörður.

A network of measurement devices is tightened so movement in the mountain can be monitored more closely
Bjarki Borgþórsson, snow inspector at The Icelandic Meteorological Office and resident in Seyðisfjörður, calls for a tighter surveillance so that information will be received in real time.

Christmas held in Herðubreið
Caretakers and business operators of Herðubreið cook Christmas dinner in Herðubreið with some help from their friends, but at least some twenty people are staying in hotel rooms without kitchen facilities.

„Christmas was wonderful, on the 23rd we borrowed a large apartment in Seyðisfjörður”
Haraldur Björn Halldórsson celebrated Christmas along with his family and says that much harmony prevailed among the townspeople.

Evacuation relieved on 42 houses

The East Iceland Archives and The East Iceland Heritage Museum receive a safe that was found almost undamaged
Elsa Guðný Björgvinsdóttir says that the safe contains “a lot of photographs and some very important documents and papers.” A police car ferries it over the impassable mountain and employees of The East Iceland Heritage Museum have more than enough on their plate with drying the papers and making sure that they will not be damaged any further.

“The destruction was just incredible and the conditions were quite surreal,” says Elsa Guðný Björgvinsdóttir.
On behalf of National Museum of Iceland, the director of the East Iceland Heritage Museum travels to Seyðisfjörður to explore the conditions of the Technical Museum after the landslides.

Evacuation relieved in four streets

The Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration clears the road of mud on the north side of the fjord

The East Iceland search and rescue team attends to salvaging valuables for the Technical Museum
The first real emergency call of the search and rescue team after twenty years of training.
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“After I had finished savaging my personal belongings I went to attend to the Technical Museum, and to be put in a judge’s seat to decide what is a museum item and what is junk. That was quite hard because I so not have a curator’s education”
Halldór Björn Halldórsson, resident in Seyðisfjörður

The Icelandic Meteorological Office believes that 75.000 cubic meters of earth material fell in the landslide
If all this material is to be cleared out by trucks it would take 5.000 loads, because usually trucks can contain a load that is around 12-15 cubic meters.

Residents of Seyðisfjörður are conflicted about returning to their homes
It is good to come home and feel safe.

Candlefloating at Lónið
Many of the townspeople do not want to hear the noise that follows when fireworks are lit because that reminds them of the rumble the mountain made when the landslides fell. Instead of fireworks on new year’s eve many townspeople participate in a candlefloating instead.

New year’s eve to be celebrated at Herðubreið
Caretakers and business operators of Herðubreið will host a new year’s eve celebration in Herðubreið

Work on assessing defence options for the south side of Seyðisfjörður is hastened

"“you can see all the photographs, can see all the videos, but when you visit the area and see all the mud and the destruction of the museum…it is greatly shocking when you add more senses to the experience”
Zuhaitz Akizu, director of the Technical Museum, comes to Seyðisfjörður in January and goes into quarantine.

Parliament agrees to increased funding for construction of defence structures because of avalanche
Construction of avalanche structures hastened.

The fundraising project Together for Seyðisfjörður is put initiated
Behind the project are parties connected to LungA, List í ljósi and Heima, who organized a fundraising concert. Various artists participate in the project, both musicians and painters.

The atmosphere in Seyðisfjörður is impassioned
A resident thinks that the evacuation takes its toll on the community.

This burden is too heavy for two people that were also themselves homeless
Sesselja Hlín Jónasardóttir, one of two business operators of Herðubreið, is not satisfied with how things were managed at the mass remedial centre in Herðubreið.
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Lights the fourth candle
Ólafía Stefánsdóttir lights the last candle of the advent wreath.
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Rebuilding houses that went under the landslides is forbidden
The local government in Múlaþing agrees to the notion that was made in cooperation with the Natural Catastrophe insurance of Iceland.
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Climate change is partially in fault for the catastrophic flooding in Seyðisfjörður
A piece of a scholarly article by Vigdís Hlíf Sigurðardóttir.
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Lilja Dögg Alfreðsdóttir, minister of education and culture, visits Seyðisfjörður along with the director of the National Museum and the director of the Cultural Heritage Agency
Lilja says that the Technical Museum has preserved relics of the significant part that Seyðisfjörður served as a connection point for Iceland to the rest of the world and that the ministry of education will support the rebuilding of the museum as well as the mighty art activities of the town.

The next steps for the Technical Museum decided
Zuhaitz Akizu, director of the Technical Museum says that the weeks postdating the landslides have been designated to phone calls and online conferences where the process, regulations, salvaging museum items and involvement of outside parties have been discussed at length.

Fish unloaded from the trawler Gullveri NS at Strandarbakki for the first time
Unloading at the freezing plant like normally was not possible because of the catastrophe.

The way to Síldarvinnslan freezing plant and to Hánefsstaðir has been cleared

The Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management still hold alert phase in effect in Seyðisfjörður

Funding to The Health Directorate of East Iceland increased
The minister of Health agrees to a seventeen million krónas funding that is meant especially for issues concerning mental health.

Work at Síldarvinnslan freezing plant has begun again

“Evacuation bags for the family are ready if we need them by. I hope that we will not have to use them though”
Ólafía Stefánsdóttir, resident in Botnahlíð, is somewhat expecting to have to evacuate her home again.

Houses evacuated again as a cautionary measure
Much precipitation in the forecast.
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January 17th

Sigríður Rún Tryggvadóttir, pastor in Seyðisfjörður, senses an increase in demand for mental support with the townspeople

A group of specialists visits Seyðisfjörður and investigates the conditions of the Technical Museum on a two-day trip
They have a meeting with locals, an emergency plan is constructed and an application for funds sent to the ministry of education and culture.

The local council of Múlaþing agrees to hire a person to interview people that witnessed the big landslide
The purpose is to gather information that will aid with finding solutions for future defences.

A group of specialists arrives at Seyðisfjörður
They work for three days salvaging and grouping museum pieces.

A loss of the buildings of the Technical Museum and it‘s museum holdings
Residents depict a personal connection to the museum holdings since so many of them had given the museum personal objects. The history of the buildings was great and they were also usable for various artistical activity.

“To wait longer. And then even longer. And no matter how many these steps will be or how fast they will be tread, the wait will always be long. And while we wait, we are paupers that are dependent on the municipality”
Oddný Björk Daníelsdóttir describes her experience of the repercussions of the mudslide in a column.

To return to the mountain to ski is like going straight back on the horse after you have fallen of
Nanna Vibe Spejlborg Juelsbo felt like she still knew the mountain like before and felt the need to reconcile with it again.

„At least for my part, I don’t trust the evacuation protocols after this”
Oddný Björk Daníelsdóttir had not yet been asked to evacuate her home when the big landslide started falling a short distance above her home.

The local government in Múlaþing has a meeting
They wish for support from the Icelandic Avalanche and Landslide Disaster Fund to buy estates.
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A collection for the Technical Museum has begun
The goal is to collect 10 million krónas but if the goal is not met the museum will nevertheless receive the whole raised amount. Karolina fund, the page that oversees the collection, made an exception to their rules in light of the circumstances. Usually a goal has to be met in order for them to disburse.

Zuhaitz Akizu, director of the Technical Museum, requests assistance from Múlaþing with procuring storage facilities for museum holdings
Environment and Executive council of Múlaþing agrees to look into options for the national government to participate in the museums storage issues.

The specialists take another trip to Seyðisfjörður
They work for three days salvaging and grouping museum pieces. A sorting and selecting schedule is constructed by employees of the Technical Museum in collaboration with the specialists from the National Museum of Iceland.

The reactions and preventative measures of museums
A piece of a scholarly article by Guðný Ósk Guðnadóttir.
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Will never forget the smell of fish
The museum holdings which were salvaged from the landslide are put in storage in the fishmeal storehouse. The items are sorted and cleaned in collaboration with the National Museum of Iceland. Zuhaitz Akizu, director of the museum, makes a connection between the cleaning of the items and a strong smell of fish that is fixed to the storehouse.

„Besides, this is happening in December. There are so many variables that are offbeat”
Geologist Þorsteinn Sæmundsson believes that the landslides can be traced to climate change. There are indications that imply that the frost in the mountains is decreasing.

The home rule of Seyðisfjörður has a meeting
Organisational matters, avalanche defences and continuity in crisis counselling for the residents are amongst the topics.
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Work with a protective wall at Búðará has finished
Work in progress with a protective wall above the Technical Museum.

The mountain needed to collapse first
Guðlaug Vala Smáradóttir says that the danger brought about by the mountain has been discussed for many years but nothing has been done about it until after the landslides fell.

A large plate that did not fall with the big landslide is monitored closely

Alert phase because of risk of snow avalanche is activated in Seyðisfjörður and three houses are evacuated
Uncertainty phase active in the Eastfjords, two wet snow avalanches and two slush avalanches have already fallen.

Sorting and selecting schedule confirmed by The Museum Council of Iceland

The responsibility and role of museums towards climate change
A piece of a scholarly article by Vigdís Hlíf Sigurðardóttir.
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A specialist from the National Archives of Iceland visits Seyðisfjörður
Andri Már Jónsson checks documents that were salvaged from the landslide as well as the Technical Museum’s standing buildings. This two-day trip is in collaboration with The East Iceland Archives.

The Technical Museum still at emergency phase regarding salvaging items
The museum is not allowed to store museum holdings in section C and needs to move the objects from Angró, Skemman, Vélsmiðjan and Gamla Símstöðin.

A group of specialists visits Seyðisfjörður for two days and works at salvaging, sorting, and disposing of museum holdings according to the freshly approved sorting and selecting schedule
Freyja Hlíðkvist Ómarsdóttir, Lilja Árnadóttir, Pétur Sörenson and Elsa Guðný Björgvinsdóttir are the specialist in the group.
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Rebuilding of houses is forbidden until a remodelled threat analysis has been created
Hafnargata 25, 35-37 and 38 are forbidden to rebuild until a new threat analysis has been created and sufficient avalanche defences have been built.

Movement detected where the big landslide started
The Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management warn people that pieces could start falling from the landslide wound but they do not think that this causes any danger in the populated area.

Change in acute construction projects because of the landslides
A new canal is to be dug at the outer side of Botnahlíð, the channel of Búðará is to be moved and a new shaft under Hafnargata needs to be constructed.

April 12th

Work with a memorial field at Wathne-torfan has begun

Much is happening in a short period of time
Residents portray their happiness with the rebuilding and clearing of streets postdating the landslides.

The freezing plant and the rendering plant need to be moved away from the danger area
Ólafur Sigurðsson, delegate of the Home rule of Seyðisfjörður, calls for the Icelandic Avalanche and Landslide Disaster Fund to partake in the cost but according to regulations the fund will only buy dwelling houses.

„The swing is the only thing that is left […] I saw some little kid playing on the swing the other day and I thought it was quite friendly”
Haraldur Björn Halldórsson is one of the people that lost their homes.
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Sigríður Þorgeirsdóttir, conservator at the National Museum of Iceland considers possible assignments for students, connected to the Technical Museum and are under the auspices of the Icelandic Student Innovation Fund

June 1st

The director of the Technical Museum of East Iceland says that the museum is in a middle of a transition process, „post-landslide and pre-new museum“

Elfa Hlín Sigrúnar Pétursdóttir, employee of the Technical Museum, says that sometime in the spring the future of the museum might be foretold
Important questions about the legal form, rebuilding, housing, and more factors are palpable.

Researchers of the project The desolation and future of a museum, community, and archaeological heritage stay in Seyðisfjörður for one month
They aid with sorting and selecting along with other assignments, residents and the director of the Technical Museum of East Iceland are interviewed.

Direct contact to the museum assets
A piece of a scholarly article by Bára Bjarnadóttir.
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June 10-11th

“The Technical Museum of East Iceland – Future and direction”
Workshops are held in Seyðisfjörður
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Instead of thinking how the exhibitions should be put up in the buildings of the museum they should think how the buildings that will accommodate the exhibitions should be like
The participants of the workshops illuminate.

Museum assets, health, and wellbeing
A piece of a scholarly article by Bára Bjarnadóttir.
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Museums and health
A piece of a scholarly article by Bryndís Súsanna Þórhallsdóttir.
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Búðarárfoss turns brown
Sigurður Snæbjörnsson, resident in Seyðisfjörður says that it happens every once in a while, and that there is probably no imminent danger. On the other hand, things like that do have a mental impact on him.

Every effort made to forgive the mountain
Zuhaitz Akizu, director of the Technical Museum of East Iceland describes how the grass can grow again and even though the mountain might as well come tumbling down next week he can’t help but try to forgive it.

“We can’t trust the mountain anymore and as a matter of fact we have every reason not to”
Elfa Hlín Sigrún Pétursdóttir

The nature is neutral
Sigurður Snæbjörn Stefánsson is aware of the imminent danger that stems from the mountain but says that you can’t change nature.

“That’s where I planted myself and that’s where I want to reside”
Haraldur Björn Halldórsson does not dead the winter and is going to take it one day at a time. Even though there is an imminent threat that stems from the mountain he says that he still wants to reside below the waterfall in the field.

“I have always felt cosy indoors and had much faith in the conditions, but all of a sudden the wind and the rain have become scary”
Guðrún Ásta Tryggvadóttir

Senses more fright towards the weather
Sesselja Hlín Jónasardóttir snuggles up with her cat when the weather gets bad, both of them seem to be more afraid of the weather after the landslides.

“The other day a Lego man went into the dryer or the washing machine…there was just this thump and immediately I ran to the kitchen and looked up to the mountain”
Guðlaug Vala Smáradóttir

“I’ll tell you that we, the people of Seyðisfjörður, are optimistic there’s no pessimism”
Jóhann Björn Sveinbjörnsson

It will be a healing moment when the Technical Museum opens up again
Jónína Brynjólfsdóttir, employee of Austurbrú and the Technical Museum depicts the importance of building up the museum quickly and securely.

Not possible to take the safety of the museum for granted
Zuhaitz Akizu, director of the Technical Museum of East Iceland, points out that the landslides taught him that the safety of the museum is not certain, and the hope that nothing will happen for a thousand years is just not enough.

The mudslides and the Technical Museum of East Iceland
Interviewees agree that the museum should include the mudslides in the museums activities and exhibitions. Even more people say that the mudslides have become a part of the museum’s history and therefore they belong there.

“We are so lucky, and that’s just life, and we need to deal with it, and that we will get some answers and that we will all experience being genuinely and permanently safe at home, not just because today it is not raining”
Guðrún Ásta Tryggvadóttir

“My mind is set on rebuilding, just give the almighty the finger and move on”
Haraldur Björn Halldórsson

A living museum
People agree on the importance of fostering living museum activities of the Technical Museum of East Iceland, which is one of the unique qualities of the museum. Zuhaitz Akizu, director of the museum says that he wants the guests to participate in the exhibition rather than to be observers.

“We might have lost the objects, lost the machines, lost the buildings, but at least we did not lose the people”
Zuhaitz Akizu, director of the Technical Museum of East Iceland.