• Dojan@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      It happens. Times past they’ve used buckets of seawater to save villages from encroaching lava. Icelanders are built different.

      • ShepherdPie@midwest.social
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        5 months ago

        Well back in the 1990s, Tommy Lee Jones and the LAFD used jersey barriers, fire trucks, and knocked a building over to stop a lava flow from demolishing the west side of Los Angeles, so I’d say we’re pretty impressive too.

        • Vandals_handle@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Fun fact, in California where the action described takes place, they are officially called k-rails, not jersey barriers. Had to double check wiki to confirm CA predated NJ where I learned about Ontario Tall Wall, which was mentioned but described so…

          Barrier Rabbit Hole

        • XeroxCool@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          People credit Tommy Lee Jones, but the true hero was the basketball that we rolled along the way

        • Monument@lemmy.sdf.org
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          5 months ago

          This won’t be the most narrative experience of the event, but basically, the town was mostly destroyed, however they were able to use firefighting boats to selectively cool the lava, resulting in not just saving their harbor (the main economic driver for their island), but also improving it, by making it more protected from the ocean.

          Wikipedia - 1973 Eruption on Heimaey Island

    • Monument@lemmy.sdf.org
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      5 months ago

      I follow a guy on YT (An American geology professor) who is pretty into this situation. One of his viewers is a superfan and lived in Grindavik, giving him on the ground updates.

      This eruption is expected to be part of a periodic cycle of increased activity that could last hundreds of years.

      In a recent-ish video, he said the Icelandic government was offering to buy the home of anyone who wanted to sell in Grindavik, and that his superfan’s house had been purchased by the government.
      I think the long term plan is probably to abandon the town.