Sæunn Káradóttir and Þormar Ellert Jóhansson are still assessing the damage following a tornado which raged through their South Iceland farm on Friday afternoon, RÚV reports. Though Iceland may be known for strong winds and extreme weather, tornados are a very rare occurrence in the country.
The residents were luckily not at home when the tornado hit, ripping roofs off of the farm buildings and turning a large SUV with a trailer into a ditch. “We are now walking around the buildings and picking up all the trash we see, which reaches 500-600 metres from the the farm buildings.” Sæunn says the tornado spread rubble such as wood scraps and roof tiles over a wide area around the farm.
The couple have not yet heard from their insurance company regarding the damage, as offices were closed for the weekend when the incident occurred. “We reached the emergency line for our insurance company and the man there was dumbfounded and didn’t know what to tell us. Nothing like this had ever happened and he pointed us toward health insurance.”
Sæunn says the employee may have thought the couple was making a prank call. “Almost certainly. It was of course late on a Friday, he just thought some people were having a bit of fun.”
by Jelena Ciric (2018, August 27) Iceland Review
