Students were asked by Miss Gilhooley to write a diary entry imagining they had experienced a volcanic eruption, here are some of the best diary entries!
Saturday 20th March 2010
Dear Diary,
It was meant to be a great day. Finally, after weeks of planting my crops, the farm was ready and we could finally leave for a much needed holiday to Cyprus. Flights out of Reykjavik at 15:00 directly to Larnaca airport. By 21:00, we would have been sat by the pool drinking G&T and eating Halloumi. Then, it all kicked off.
I started to feel rumbling under the ground but I just assumed I was imagining things. But then there was a faint smell of gas and I knew it wasn’t my brain playing tricks. As the ground started to shake even more, I could hear the distant sound of house alarms going off and car alarms going off; but other than that, there was an eerie silence. All the animals on the farm had gone quiet and the birds were nowhere to be seen. I couldn’t see much from my window so I went outside to the field. The rest of my family were already there, pointing, staring but silent. In the distance, we could see huge plumes of grey smoke rising miles into the sky. I could just make out the flickering flames burning in the volcano. Immediately, we all knew that Eyjafjallajökull had erupted. All of us just stared at the lava flows and at the huge, fiery boulders of molten rock tumbling down the mountain at alarming rates.
We have all done many drills for this situation before so I knew that luckily we are safe to stay where we are. One of my biggest concerns though was getting everyone and everything inside as we are however, not protected from the ashfall. I remember locking my children inside whilst I went out to retrieve the sheep, cows, pigs and chicken. Sadly, there was no possible way of protecting the crops so I just had to hope for the best. Although we knew it would happen eventually and we were prepared, it doesn’t make this situation any less scary. I was worried for my family, I was worried for my friends, I was worried for the animals and I was worried for my crops but I had to put on a brave face to re assure everyone around me. I also hoped and prayed that everyone living in the village will be protected enough or can make a quick escape to somewhere else.
After all of this madness, I had forgotten about our holiday to Cyprus. I called the airport when I got back inside and all flights had been cancelled. We should be able to re book soon though. I hope.