Volacano Causes Continent Wide Delays

As you've likely heard, an Icelandic volcano released an ash cloud high into the atmosphere last night. The cloud is floating across Europe and more than a dozen airports have shut down flights since engines and ash don't mix (KLM flight in '89).

Our own Ron Pradinuk, on his way to catch a cruise in Venice, is stuck in Pearson, waiting to find out if his flight tonight to Frankfurt is a go or no go.

Beyond the tens (hundreds?) of thousands of travellers affected by this, the issues in Iceland have been somewhat overlooked.

The section below comes courtesy of a Yahoo news story.

By Jill Lawless,Robert Barr, The Associated Press
In Iceland, hundreds of people have fled rising floodwaters since the volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull (ay-yah-FYAH'-plah-yer-kuh-duhl) glacier erupted Wednesday for the second time in less than a month. As water gushed down the mountainside, rivers rose up to 10 feet (3 metres) by Wednesday night, slicing the island nation's main road in half.


The volcano still spewed ash and steam Thursday, but the floods had subsided. Some ash was falling on uninhabited areas, but most was being blown by westerly winds toward northern Europe, including Britain, about 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometres) away.

"It is likely that the production of ash will continue at a comparable level for some days or weeks. But where it disrupts travel, that depends on the weather," said Einar Kjartansson, a geophysicist at the Icelandic Meteorological Office. "It depends how the wind carries the ash."

The ash cloud did not disrupt operations at Iceland's Keflavik airport or caused problems in the capital of Reykjavik, but has affected the southeastern part of the island, said meteorologist Thorsteinn Jonsson. In one area, visibility was reduced to 150 metres (yards) Thursday, he said, and farmers were advised to keep livestock indoors to protect them from eating the abrasive ash.