The Westfjords have been through difficult times in recent weeks. For a long time there was a winter storm with heavy snowfall. The road system lay down for many days and residents of small villages suffered from food shortages and were isolated from essential services.
A large avalanche fell in the village of Flateyri. Fortunately the protection kept most of it away from the village but it drowned fishing boats and wrecked the harbour. People lost jobs, but fortunately no one got seriously hurt.
Here is a unique video showing the rescue squad responses after the avalanche fell.
Twenty five years ago an avalanche fell on the same village and many died. The village is small and many fear the latest avalanche will deal a heavy blow to its existence in the midst of times when the village was beginning to blossom after difficult years. Here is a video showing where the deadly avalanche fell in 1995.
This photo shows the beautiful village Flateyri as seen from the avalanche protection that saved many lives days ago. The harbour is on the left.
