PhOtOs=Lava Threatens Hawiian Village
 

Lava Within Yards of Home on Hawaii's Big Island

By AP, 28 October 2014

HONOLULU (AP) — After weeks of slow, stop-and-go movement, a river of asphalt-black lava was within yards of a home in a Big Island community Tuesday.
The lava crackled and smoked as it advanced toward the two-story structure in Pahoa Village, smothering an expanse of vegetation.
Residents of the small town have had weeks to prepare for what's been described as a slow-motion disaster. Most have either already left or are prepared to go when necessary.

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This Oct. 25, 2014 photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey shows a small shed being consumed by lava in a pasture between the Pahoa cemetery and Apa?a Street near the town of Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii.


Dozens of residents in this rural area of Hawaii were placed on alert as flowing lava continued to advance. Authorities on Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014 said lava had advanced about 250 yards since Saturday morning and was moving at the rate of about 10 to 15 yards an hour, consistent with its advancement in recent days. The flow front passed through a predominantly Buddhist cemetery, covering grave sites in the mostly rural region of Puna, and was roughly a half-mile from Pahoa Village Road, the main street of Pahoa.

County officials are making arrangements for those living in the lava's path to be able to watch the lava destroy their homes as a means of closure.
"You can only imagine the frustration as well as ... despair they're going through," Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Darryl Oliveira said.
The lava was about 70 yards from a home Monday evening, officials said. County officials have warned those with respiratory problems to stay indoors because of the smoke.
Over the weekend, the lava crossed a road in Pahoa Village, considered a main town in the island's rural Puna district. It was getting dangerously close to Pahoa Village Road, which goes straight through downtown.


THE LATEST
The flow's advancement has been inconsistent, ranging from about 2 to 20 yards per hour, depending on topography, said Janet Babb, a spokeswoman for the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
On Monday, it was moving 5 to 10 yards an hour.
The couple living in the house closest to the flow left, but they have returned periodically to gather belongings Oliveira said. At one point they allowed civil defense workers to view the lava from their balcony.
Imelda Raras lives on Apaa Street, which was hit by the lava Sunday. She said she and her husband are ready to go to a friend's home if officials tell them they should leave.
"We are still praying," Raras said. "I hope our home will be spared."


SLOW CREEP

Scientists began warning the public about the lava Aug. 22. At the time, residents were cleaning up from a tropical storm that made landfall over the Puna district.
The lava has advanced and slowed as residents waited and watched.
Kilauea volcano, one of the world's most active, has been erupting continuously since 1983.
Decomposition of vegetation in the lava's path has created methane gas, which if it accumulates and is ignited by heat can cause a blast, Babb said.
"It's not a massive explosion," she said. "But it can dislodge rocks. It can hurl large rocks several feet."


WHO IS AT RISK?

Initially, the lava seemed headed for the Kaohe Homesteads, a sparsely populated subdivision.
But the lava reached vacant lots and then stalled. It skirted a corner of the subdivision and then headed toward Pahoa.
Pahoa has small-town charm, but it's the "only town in a commercial sense in lower Puna," said state Sen. Russell Ruderman, who represents the district and runs a natural food store in Pahoa.
Because the lava could change direction, any community in Puna is at risk.


PREPARATIONS

Sporadic suspensions in the lava's movement have given emergency crews time to build alternate routes to town.
Crews near the lava's leading edge have been wrapping power poles with concrete rings as a layer of protection from the heat.
Raras said they began putting their belongings in storage in September. What they aren't able to take with them, they're photographing for insurance purposes.


HOW LONG WILL THE RISK REMAIN?

No one knows if the lava flow will stop, change direction or hit more homes.
In the 1990s, about 200 homes were destroyed by lava flows from Kilauea.


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This Oct. 25, 2014 photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey shows a Hawaii Volcano Observatory geologist standing on a partly cooled section of lava flow near the town of Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii. Note the thin red horizontal line of molten lava visible along the bottom third of the photo. The flow here is about one meter (three feet) thick, but slightly farther upslope where the lava has had more time to inflate the thickness was closer to two meters.


Dozens of residents in this rural area of Hawaii were placed on alert as flowing lava continued to advance. Authorities on Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014 said lava had advanced about 250 yards since Saturday morning and was moving at the rate of about 10 to 15 yards an hour, consistent with its advancement in recent days. The flow front passed through a predominantly Buddhist cemetery, covering grave sites in the mostly rural region of Puna, and was roughly a half-mile from Pahoa Village Road, the main street of Pahoa.

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This Oct. 26, 2014 photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey shows the lava flow front of from an eruption that began the June 27, as the front remains active and continues to advance towards the northeast threatening the town of Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii.


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This Oct. 25, 2014 photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey shows lava flow advancing across the pasture between the Pahoa cemetery and Apaa Street, engulfing a barbed wire fence, near the town of Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii.


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In this Oct. 24, 2014 photo from the U.S. Geological Survey, the lava flow from Kilauea Volcano that began June 27 is seen as it crossed Apaa Street near Cemetery Road near the town of Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii.


Hawaii authorities on Saturday told several dozen residents near the active lava flow to prepare for a possible evacuation in the next three to five days as molten rock oozed across the country road and edged closer to homes. The USGS says the flow is currently about 160 to 230 feet (50 to 70 meters) wide and moving northeast at about 10 yards (nine meters) per hour. It's currently about six-tenths of a mile (one kilometer) from Pahoa Village Road, the town's main street.

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This pair of images released Oct. 22, 2014 by the U.S. Geological Survey shows a comparison of a normal photograph of the lava flow front, left, with a thermal image of the flow that is threatening the town of Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii. The white box shows the approximate extent of the thermal image. The thermal image shows that active breakouts (white and yellow areas) are focused along the narrow lobe at the leading edge of the flow, but are also scattered for about 2 km (1.2 miles) behind the flow front.


Authorities on Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014 said lava had advanced about 250 yards since Saturday morning and was moving at the rate of about 10 to 15 yards an hour, consistent with its advancement in recent days. The flow front passed through a predominantly Buddhist cemetery, covering grave sites in the mostly rural region of Puna, and was roughly a half-mile from Pahoa Village Road, the main street of Pahoa. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)