HS Veitur accepts the view of the Public Safety Committee of the capital region that connections between areas can be improved to increase delivery security to residents in the areas specified in the new report by the Icelandic Meteorological Office on lava hazards on the Reykjanes Peninsula.
This is what Sigrún Inga Ævarsdóttir, HS Veitna’s communications and marketing manager, says in a written response to an inquiry from mbl.is.
Jón Viðar Matthíasson, executive director of the public safety committee of the capital region, says interview in Morgunblaðin today that, following the report, a conversation has started with all utilities in the capital area about whether connections between systems can be improved, including for hot water, cold water, electricity and sewage. The goal is to build a more integrated system.
Take preventive measures
HS Veitur distributes hot and cold water as well as electricity to homes and businesses in the south-west corner of the country and in the south. Since the fall of 2023, the company has been on standby and the contingency plans are constantly being reviewed and updated, due to ongoing earthquakes in the vicinity of important infrastructure in Reykjanes.
Sigrún’s answer states that the Icelandic Meteorological Office’s long-term risk assessment does not surprise the company. Through preparation and close cooperation with key parties, including civil defense, local authorities and HS Orku, services have been kept almost uninterrupted. Staff have built up important experience and numerous preventive measures have been taken.
Instructions has been published on the company’s website about the response to a possible long-term interruption of utility systems due to natural disasters.
The plan will be the basis for further preparation
The consequences of the lava flow have already been seen in the area and infrastructure has been damaged.
The company has shown that it can react quickly and safely if lava floods the company’s infrastructure again. However, it is good that the Icelandic Meteorological Office’s new long-term plan has come out and it will be the basis for further preparations.
