"North West" tells the amazing story of one of the biggest rescue operations Iceland has seen, after a huge avalanche hit the small fishing village of Flateyri on October 26, 1995. Before any outside help reached Flateyri, the locals were on their own during the first five hours, searching and digging up their neighbors, friends and relatives, and organizing the rescue. Many obstacles, such as storms and further dangerous avalanches, were on the way as rescue teams nationwide, helicopters, and ships tried to find their way to Flateyri. This snow avalanche was one of the deadliest in Iceland’s history and 1995 is remembered as being the most costly in human lives in recent and local history of natural disasters. This story is told by rescuers, media people, the former president of Iceland, and survivors, some of whom were under the snow for 9 hours.