Roof blew off a house in Siglufjörður

The roof of a house on Aðalgata in Siglufjörður blew off in a gust of wind last night. Most of the roof blew off, resulting in debris being scattered over a large area, the police in North Iceland announced.

Nearby houses and structures were damaged, and one house had to be evacuated. Traffic is blocked from Aðalgata from Vetrarbraut until the site is protected.

Police said traffic is also blocked through a parking lot at the office of Rammi in the harbour area.

Massive winds

There has been heavy wind in Siglufjörður yesterday and last night, but police describe the winds as tremendous. The winds are not expected to subside until this evening.

“All available rescue equipment from local rescue services, fire departments and police have been used during the overnight closures,” the police announcement stated. It is also stated that rescue teams have been traveling through town to minimize damage in other locations.

Historical building from the herring years

The house that was damaged in the gale in Siglufjörður last night is a historic building in the country’s herring history, according to Örlygur Kristfinnsson, former director of the Sildarminjasafnið Museum in Siglufjörður.

Kristfinnsson says the house was built around 1928 and was the freezer of Ásgeir Pétursson. The freezer was the oldest building, at the end of which the freezer was built and still stands.

“This is among the first freezers in the country where machine-freezing was used,” he says, “and the freezer house is probably the first or second of its kind in the country.”

He says the freezer house was used up to the end of the herring years in Siglufjörður or around 1965. The herring frozen there was mostly used as bait for cod fishing.

According to Kristfinnsson, the house was used as a storage space in recent years and it is owned by the musician Valgeir Sigurðsson.