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[Murcielago]

Johann, how are you and your wife? Are you being affected by the volcano?

[Johann]

The volcano is in the area where my grandparents came from. More when I wake up. . .

[Johann]

Only about 45 minute drive from our place the roads are closed for general traffic yet we see nothing due to rain and clouds to the east. The weather forecast for tomorrow is clear weather and then we should be able to see the volcano. It is strange that flights in Europe are affected, and yet only the flights to one domestic destination are cancelled. We expect this to be the case as long as the winds are from the west and north. According to the weather forecast there are no winds from the east predicted yet. Then we would be getting the ashes.

Face masks have been provided for the 5,000 people in the Westmann Islands because winds from the north are expected for one day. Hardly any ashes came from the former eruption which has now stopped. They say the ash stems from the lava colliding with the ice of the glacier. And then we have the floods of muddy water as the ice melts.

My great grandparents moved away from their farm due to mud from an eruption in 1821, so my grandmother was born on a farm closer to the ocean where they settled. Later occupants of their former farm erected new buildings on higher ground, but large fields have been destroyed on a neighbor farm by mud from the present eruption yesterday.

There have only been two fatal casualties connected with the recent volcanic activities. A couple of weeks ago three people borrowed a jeep to get to a place where they could see. . . When the jeep was stuck the driver called police on his cell phone and requested assistance. Shortly after that he called again and told them not to bother because they managed to get out. Many hours later there was no contact and relatives requested assistance. A helicopter searched and then 280 rescue people by foot with dogs, also snowmobiles and mountain jeeps searched for hours in the area where the driver had told police he thought they were. Finally they found a woman in her thirties hiking and her condition was fair. But the helicopter brought her to a hospital. Later they found the jeep with an empty gas tank. Not far from there was a woman in her fifties who had died from exposure. Farther away they found the driver who had also died from exposure. Seems like they had no idea where they were located as they were getting far away from the volcano and there were no roads. Did they expect to find a filling station around the next mountain?

We expect clear weather tomorrow so we might drive to the area where my grandfather was born from where there should be a magnificent view of the volcano and no ashes.

Milk from farms in the area is now taken to a dairy farther away and in the opposite direction. Cows are kept and fed indoors and farmers return to their farms under police supervision in case they have to be rescued. Food supplies in one village are limited but new supplies are on their way.

[Johann]

I should have said that propeller planes can fly through the ashes in the air where jet engines suffocate. I don't think there are any propeller planes available for international flights today. Most domestic flights in Iceland are by smaller propeller planes. National guard and rescue planes are all propeller planes.

[Emma]

Mostly I think the propellor planes fly at a lower altitude too, I think the problem at least in Europe is in the upper
parts of the atmosphere.

[princessdi]

Praise God you are safe and sound.  Very sad about the hikers, though.    

[guide4him]

So glad you are ok Johann. Thank you for this information. this is more information than what we get from the news. They are  just concerned about Europe and what is happening to them...

[Johann]

On Friday we drove beyond the place where my grandparents  lived  and as close to the volcano as we could get by car and there we saw nothing except ice clumps spread all through the valley which had been flooded earlier with water from the glacier. Other tourists were disappointed. A bus driver who had brought a load of school children from Denmark to see the eruption asked me if I had any idea where he could take the kids to see more. We were on the safe side where there was no ash.

When we got back home the weather had cleared and we could see the eruption from our living room window. On TV we see places in darkness where there is bright sunshine all around, yet we are still spared the ashes which are preventing flights in Europe. The volcano scientists tell us the eruption is diminishing right now so there might be less ashes in the coming days. But they predict new activities in the future, measured by how this volcano acted the last time it erupted - 200 years ago.

No eruption from the larger volcano in the area yet. They predict it can erupt within a year or two.

In my Sabbath sermon today I read the text in Rev. 8 which describes how volcanoes will act just before the Second Coming of Christ. A TV reporter mentioned that where the ashes are falling now it seems like the end of the world.

[Fran]

Yes, Johann, Jesus is coming soon!  We are seeing so many signs so fast and over all the world!  What a great time to be alive!  Will I see Him come or will I be caught in the air with my Mother and Daughter?  I so want to see my God in the 1st Resurrection! 

"So come Lord Jesus"!  I love You so much!

[mrst53]

Johann, altho we have never met, the Lord laid you on my heart last night. I was worried about your trip and I am glad you are back safely. :amen:The wonderful thing about the internet is the vast majority of Christians who can meet and pray around the world.

[Johann]

Volcano Update

The first eruption occurred on a lower ridge between two glaciers, and therefore we did not have much of a flood. Neither did we get great amount of ash from that eruption.

Then suddenly a second eruption started right at the top of one of the glaciers. As the burning lava came up through the deep ice it melted and caused a great flood. The worst part of this eruption is the tremendous amount of ash gushing up several kilometers into the air. Where the ash spreads fro there depends on the direction of the wind. We live an hour's drive to the west, and fortunately for us we have had very little wind from the east. Most of the winds have been from the north and north/east sending the fine ash at high altitudes towards other countries in Europe, as far as the Mediterranean Ocean. The coarser ash goes in the same direction but fall down on the mountains and the farmland in the vicinity. A limited amount acts as fertilizer, but greater amounts suffocates vegetation and limits the feeding of animals. Right now the little lambs are born by the thousands, and they are being transported to grazing fields elsewhere in Iceland.

The last few days the wind has turned so it now comes from the south. That brings rain and is a certain relief for the farmers. Most of the ashes now fall down on  mountains in uninhabited areas of the country, but then the two reserve airports that have been used are closed. We trust that the main two airports in Iceland will now be open for a while, not the least because my wife and three daughters will be returning from a visit to Norway in a few days.

When the weather is clear we see the volcano right from our window and can also see in which direction the smoke and ash is going.

[mrst53]

I listen to the news and worry about you,but as long as you keep posting, I know you are safe

[tinka]

Johann,

So far have never lived in fear of too much weather, earthquakes, volcano's, sort of live in the northern midwest heartland. A few tornado warnings now and then.
That all sounds pretty big time to me. I am afraid I would have to move way inland. But you know, now we have another disaster, the oil spread in the Gulf stream and down around Florida now. Most feel that it could have been dealt with quicker and stopped. But the present Administration of Washington DC seemingly now has good reason to try to stop all drilling that they have been against anyway. almost seems to be played in the hands of  "Environmentalists " Can one imagine how - now the oceans will become if this is not checked soon. I have a big imagination of dead fish floating all over, stink, no ships traveling, toxic and no planes flying in your area and Europe.
Sounds like global moaning and groaning and mostly must for sure be end times as our economy looks pretty bleak.

[Johann]

Here is what the British Broadcasting is saying about weird science and the volcano.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8690513.stm

[tinka]

Now that is quite interesting. (smile) Man trying to control what God is in Control of. The footsteps of His coming!
Somewhere over my reading and I can't seem to find it now as I have looked and looked though all my helps with White Estate on my computer of all Writings that one of the things that will happen is that all transportation will stop. I wish I could find where I read that to make sure I am stating right. But that is one thing that stuck with me as my imagination went into gear on how that would happen.  I figured it would be "no" fuel".  I have looked under travel, transportation and for some reason just can't find it. But somehow that sort of made an impact while reading. I usually underline and mark down. Sometimes the reading is so interesting I forget and then can't find what I read.