Hvítá River Overflows Its Banks

Water from the Hvítá River in Árnessýsla, near the farm of Brúnastaðir in Flói, is now overflowing the river bank and finding its way into an irrigation canal that lies there. The mouth of the canal is blocked by ice and the floodgate in it is closed. Therefore, water flows into the canal at the river's overflow. This has been happening for over an hour. The progress is rapid.

"The river is full of banks and ice," says Ágúst Ingi Ketilsson, a farmer in Brúnastaðir in Flói. The cold snap of the last few days has formed an ice dam in Hvítá, where it flows east of Mt Hestfjall in Grímsnes and then west south of the mountain. In fact, ice is more widespread in the river in these parts and the current situation is nothing that comes as a surprise to people familiar with the area.

Very cold temperatures

The Icelandic Meteorological Office's water level gauge in Hvítá River near Brúnastaðir shows signs of damming, cf. that the river surface is very high now. Very cold temperatures are in the area and are expected to last for the next few days, according to forecasts.

"The water is flowing into the irrigation canal, which is full of ice, and dams could be widespread. In fact, the irrigation is like a vascular system throughout the entire Flói, which is a very large area. Dams in the canals can therefore cause water to flow over the land, as has often happened," says Grétar Einarsson, foreman at the Icelandic Road Administration, who is on the scene.

Police checking the situation

The police in South Iceland are on their way up to the Hvítá River at Brúnastaðir to investigate the situation there, according to a statement from the Icelandic Meteorological Office.