The sirens reminiscent of a nuclear drill
The test of the warning sirens yesterday went according to plan. mbl.is/Eyþór Árnason
Warning sirens sounded in Grindavík and Svartsengi last night for about a minute. The sound is the same as in aircraft sirens that were used in exercises for nuclear attacks here in the past.
This is what Hjördís Guðmundsdóttir, information officer for civil protection, says in an interview with mbl.is, but you can hear the sirens in the attached video.
"People who are 50 and older get a little uncomfortable because you remember this as a kid when you heard these exercises in the old days. It's the same sound you heard when you were younger," Guðmundsdóttir says.
Then for nuclear drills?
"Yes. Back then these were called aircraft sirens."
You can listen to the sirens echoing around the town in a video that Víkurfréttir has published.
It is a very clear warning sign
Guðmundsdóttir says that the exercise went well yesterday and that it is not surprising that when the warning sirens go off, it means that people need to get away.
If the area erupts again, the sirens will go off, just like the last eruption.
The exercise was carried out so that the civil defense activated the sirens, but the police in Suðurnes had to start them.
Guðmundsdóttir says that work is now being done to ensure that the sirens can be put into operation from the capital area. That way, a local responder would not be needed to activate the sirens.
