H a z a r dM a n a g e m e n ta n dP u b l i cWa r n i n g

Preparednessof

theIcelandicMeteorological

Office

inresponsetopotentialavalanchedanger

Ma gnúsMarMa gnússon,

Icelandic MeteorologicalOffice,

Bustadarvegi 9.

IS -150 Reykjavik.

KeyWords:Avalanche,Evacuation,Monitoring,Defenses,^{people to realize that this is indeed a very serious threat in}
Risk^Iceland.
Eighteen months ago there were two people employed
ABSTRACT^{in the fieldof avalanches and a few snow observers sta-}
In the wake of avalanche disasters in the last year that left^{tioned at the threatenedvillages but their work was mostly}
36 people dead, the law in Iceland concerning avalanche^{voluntary since no funding was available to employ them}
safetywaschanged. Inadditiontomonitoringpotential^{to the extent that wasactuallyneeded. Now there are seven}
avalanchesituations, the responsibility of defining evacu-^{people employedfull time at IMO andsnow observers have}
ation areas and ordering evacuationswas given to the Ice-^{been employedat severalcommunities in varying capacity,}
landic Meteorological Office (IMO).^{ranging from 30% to 100% on a yearly basis.}
In order to prepare forthis,the IMO set up an internal^{At present there are hardly any avalanchedefensestruc-}
avalanche situation watch.Reports were written describ-^{tures in Iceland to speak of.Thus,a project was initiated}
ingpotentiallydangerous situationsintermsofweather^{to evaluate the need for such structures.}
conditions andsnow accumulation.Inaddition, maps were
compiled showing distinctevacuationzones. Threestages^{THE NEW LEGISLATION.}
where defined, dependingon the severity of the situation^{A new law about snow avalanchedefensesand debris flow}
and potential runout distances of avalanches.^{was passed before the Icelandic Parliament,Althingi,on}
An increase in the staff of the avalanche section at the^{the 28th of December 1995. It states that the responsibility}
IMOhastakenplace withadditional resourcesgiven to^{of avalanche related matters falls underthe Ministery of}
the section.The mandate of the IMO has been set to pre-^{the Environment. Previously that responsibility had been}
vent further disasters like the ones that occurred in 1995.^{dividedunder three ministeries.Inparticularallprofes-}
The system of local snow observers was strengthened^{sional matters related to avalanches s.a. the responsibility}
both in termsof manpowerand equipment.A system of^{of determining theextent andtiming of evacuations during}
seniorobserverand assistants hasbeen setup and their^{thetimeofimpendingavalanche danger,hazard zoning}
function has been integrated into the workings of the IMO.^{andavalancheresearchwasputinthehandsofthe}
Theycompriseanintegralpartofthedecisionmaking^{Icelandic Meteorological Office.}
within the office.
Future plansforan improvementofthesafetyofthe_{THE CHANGE IN PEOPLES ATTITUDE.}
avalancheprone communities include, further instrumen-
tation in the starting zones as well as in the villages, moni-^{The avalanchedisasters havechangedpeople'sattitudeand}

toring weather, precipitation and snow depth. Plansare to^{new information about past avalanches has surfaced. For}

adapt nearestneighbourforecasting systems,based both^{example in the village of Flateyriwe have new informa-}

on local and synoptic conditions.^{tion on 9 avalanches that we were not aware of before and}
wereceived additionalinformationon4alreadyknown
avalanches. This doesnot mean that all this information
INTRODUCTION.waswillfullyheldbackfromus,althoughwehavean
In 1995,a total of 36 avalanche fatalities occurred in Ice-^{example of that. More importantly, the newinformation is}
land. Of those, 20 fatalitiesoccurredin thevillageof Flateyri^{the result of more intensedatacollection.Peopledig deeper}
on the 26th of October 1995 and 14 fatalities in the village^{intotheirmemoryandare morewilling todiscusspast}
ofSudavikonthe 16thofJanuaryearlierthe sameyear.^avalanches.
One farmer was also killed tending to his livestock. Those^{Also, reporters have joined us in the search for pastava-}
threeaccidents alloccurred inthenorthwest peninsula^{lanches. It is considered news that an avalanche has been}
Vestfirdir or Western Fjords. In addition, a skier was killed^{omittedinthe hazard evaluationprocess.Thishas then}
in the neighborhood of Reykjavik.^{been discussed in the media and more people have come}
Asaresultofthese disasters,the GovernmentofIce-^{forward with additional information.There is even a case}
land gave the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO),the^{were a police investigation wasinitiated toinvestigate a}
agenda toreduce the chance offurtherdisasters such as^{claimthatanavalanchehadfallendowntoaspecific}
those that occurred in the year1995.As a result,various^{location farwithin what is now a residential area.}
programs have been initiated in orderto improve the ef-
fectiveness and preparedness of the IMO._{AVALANCHE WARNING PROCEDURES.}
Up until then, the threat of avalanches was always con-
sidered somewhat secondary to all the othernatural haz-^{The Icelandic Meteorological Office has put down opera-}
ardsthat arepresentin Iceland.These accidents caused^{tional proceduresfor the monitoring of potentialavalanche}
danger. It specifies what shall be done and in what order.
It places the IMOin one of three stages of alertness.See

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