19 November 2023 , 16:39
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Families from an Icelandic fishing town say they feel they’re trapped in the start of a disaster movie as they wait for the “monster under their feet” to explode.
At least 4,000 people were forced to flee the fishing town of Grindavik ten days ago. Since then thousands of earthquakes and tremors have plagued the region, causing sinkholes, destroying roads and some homes. On Saturday alone there were 1,800 earthquakes recorded in the 'magma chamber' flowing under the town 'very close to the surface'.
The Icelandic Met Office is warning there is still a “high risk” of a volcanic eruption any day. A State of Emergency has been declared as workers battle to build giant mounds of earth to keep the lava away from the vital power plant. There are fears for the 30,000 people it supplies with electricity and hot water as they face a harsh winter that can plunge to -10C.
Damage to roads in Grindavik (Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)On Saturday an emergency defence meeting heard the residents would be out of their homes for many months - if they ever return at all.The Prime Minister told how they may look at getting locals psychological help as families complain their displaced children are now "lonely".
One mum, with a seven-year-old, said she is appealing on Facebook for new playmates for her isolated son. “My son hasn’t got any of his friends around him as they are all scattered here and there - so he’s lonely,” Joanna Hong, 37, said. “We’ve had to put him in a new school with strange new surroundings and people. I’m going to put an appeal on Facebook to find some new playmates. He is just on the iPad all the time”. She is living in a hostel and says above them there is an eight-month pregnant Polish lady who was also left homeless.
Nursery apologises after child with Down's syndrome ‘treated less favourably’
Helgi Dan Steinsson, CEO of the Grindvik Golf Club (Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)
Enormous fissures in the ground near Grindavik Golf Club (Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)Mum-of-two Kolbrun Jonsdottir, 37, also worries for her children, who adore their home town of Grindavik.
She told The Mirror how they fear the “giant monster” under their feet will erupt in the coming days to destroy their town totally.
She was home alone when the earthquakes began as her daughter Bergrun, ten, was at a nearby friend’s house and her son Markus, 16, was out with the fire and rescue cadets.
“At 5pm my daughter was sent home by her friend’s mum because we knew these earthquakes were different. It felt like there was a giant under your feet, there were so many earthquakes, with not much time between them. My laptop was hopping up and down. It was like the start of a disaster movie. That's what it feels like still. We just don't know what is going to happen next.”
A fissure close to the town (Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)Her daughter Bergrun says it reminded her of the games she used to play at school: “The ones where you say ‘don’t go over the bridge or the troll will get you.’
“It was fun at first but then it became overpowering and uncomfortable. But I wasn’t scared then but I am now. I’m scared my home is going to be destroyed. There is a crack in the floor in our school where we used to keep our shoes. I’m worried about the trophies in the gym where I do Judo. And I’m sad we won’t get to put our Christmas tree up in Grindavik.”
But she said she was happy and relieved they managed to save their two Budgies who took their midnight flit in their stride, she said. Her mum, a psychology student, said she is now worried about their future and how she’s going to pay her mortgage and rent for a new property. She says the banks have only agreed to freeze the home loans but not the interest rate - which will be added to the capital.
Emergency responders on the scene in Grindavik (Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)Dad-of-five Sverrir Audunsson, 48, a director of a golf course outside the red zone, told how his house was one of those destroyed in the earthquakes. He had been starting to prepare for Christmas by giving his home a fresh lick of paint when disaster struck.
“It felt like it was right underneath our house, that something was happening under it. I told my wife ‘we won’t be coming back here for a while’. There is extreme damage, cracks in the walls, the ground floor is coming away from the wall. But it has been great to see how the island people have gathered around. The Red Cross evacuation centres closed down because someone had a place to stay.”
Residents from the stricken town have been living in summer houses, with family, friends and some even in camper vans. He said it feels like the “giant has awoken and will be heard” and he too fears it could “wipe out the town”. “We’ve taken the decision that we won't be living in that particular house and we have more difficult decisions ahead," he said.
'My son's teacher took away his shoes and lost them - they should replace them'
Reykjavik Marina (Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)His friend, and the boss of Grinkavik’s golf course told how the hole engulfing the ninth tee continues to get “bigger and bigger”. Helgi Dan Steinsson, CEO of the Grindavik Golf Club said half the women's track on the 13th hole is gone and his roads have been severed. “But I am more worried about all my friends who are basically homeless now and looking for apartments,” he said. “The golf course is something we can make but it is difficult to build a new town.”
He says the fissure heads toward the clubhouse and then takes a big turn through the new training ground. Inside the clubhouse there are broken pictures, broken glasses and broken plates.
Helgi said: ‘There is a big crack through our new practice facility and a big hole on the 13th tee. Half the tee is missing. We will just move it. The plate runs through the 9th hole. That’s where you can stand in Europe and drive over to North America. We will just have to wait and see if there is a golf course in a few months.”