'There's no control': Hawaii watches lava's creep

[Buster's Uncle]

'There's no control': Hawaii watches lava's creep
Associated Press
By AUDREY McAVOY and JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER  3 hours ago



PAHOA, Hawaii (AP) — Lava from one of the world's most active volcanos has been advancing at a slower pace the past few days and is now moving parallel to a sparsely populated subdivision on Hawaii's Big Island.

Lava from Kilauea volcano was still at least a mile from any homes in Kaohe Homesteads, Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Darryl Oliveira said.

Oliveira took a helicopter flight over the area Monday and saw the lava had crept about 150 yards from the previous day. It's moving north for now but could still stop or change directions.

"It's been doing that for the last several days," he said of its northern pull. Prior to Friday, it was going northeast toward the subdivision.

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory has warned the lava could reach the subdivision in a matter of days.

Oliveira said he didn't anticipate issuing an evacuation order Monday. But residents should be prepared because it's difficult to predict the lava's movement. It was also raining over the flow site, he noted, which meant there wasn't a wildfire threat.

"That's good for today," he said. "But it doesn't get us out of any potential threat down the road. It just means it's going to be a very slow process."

The lava warning has created an "edgy" mood in Puna, the rural region on the southeast side of the Big Island that is at risk from the lava, said Bill Parecki, a real estate agent who has lived in the area for 42 years. The area is still recovering from the damage from a tropical storm about a month ago.

"Everybody's a little concerned," he said. "Everybody's a little worried. We just have to see where the lava goes. There's no control. It's Mother Nature."

A big concern is lava crossing roads and blocking Puna off from the rest of the island, or becoming "lava-locked," he said.

Business has been quiet since Tropical Storm Iselle made landfall over the region last month, said Mary Bicknell, owner of Big Island Book Buyers, a bookstore in downtown Pahoa.

"We're always watching it, but we're not usually threatened by it," she said of the lava.

___

Kelleher reported from Honolulu.


http://news.yahoo.com/theres-no-control-hawaii-watches-lavas-creep-112632612.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Residents: Hawaii lava part of living in paradise
Associated Press
By AUDREY McAVOY  1 hour ago



Lava flows from one of the world's most active volcano inched closer to a housing subdivision Monday. Experts now say residents could be days away from losing their homes. (Sept. 9)



PAHOA, Hawaii (AP) — Lava from Kilauea volcano has forced Shawn Heard to move her house once already, back in the 1980s. She's at peace with the possibility of eventually having to do so again.

Heard lives just miles from a cluster of homes that is being threatened by a lava flow inching its way down the lush, rain forest-like slopes of Kilauea. She knows lava could one day get to her house.

And yet, she doesn't think about living anywhere else.

"It's such a magical place," said Heard in her shop, Puna Style, in downtown Pahoa, the largest town in the district.

Like many who moved onto a volcano that's been continuously erupting since 1983, Heard settled here for the tranquility of a rural area and the great people she met. It's a place where she can go home at night and look up to see thousands of stars.

"We created a family that is in some ways closer than the family we came to this Earth to," she said.



In this Sept. 6, 2014 aerial photo released by the U.S. Geological Survey, lava advances from the Kilauea volcano in Pahoa, Hawaii. Lava issued from several spots along a deep ground crack earlier this week, as shown by the distinct fingers of lava making up the flow front. The thick smoke plumes show the flow front moving downslope towards the north. Lava from one of the world's most active volcanos has been advancing at a slower pace the past few days and is now moving parallel to a sparsely populated subdivision on Hawaii's Big Island. Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Darryl Oliveira says the lava from Kilauea volcano is still at least a mile away from any homes in Kaohe Homesteads. (AP Photo/Tim Orr, U.S. Geological Survey)


As the lava flows, however, it's giving those who are in the process of moving here or are planning to reason for pause.

In the downtown, just next door to Heard's boutique, is Savio Realty, where the usual bustle of walk-in traffic from tourists hoping to own a bit of paradise has quieted down in recent days, broker Sandra Lee Hegerfelt said.

Some potential home buyers are backing out of escrow because of the possibility that lava may block roads, she said. Officials are warning residents about the possibility that lava might cover part of a highway that could isolate about 8,000 people.

Some lenders, meanwhile, are adopting a wait-and-see attitude and have been slow to approve mortgages, she said.

"There's no way to know whether it will continue or just stop," she said of the lava.



This Monday Sept. 8, 2014, aerial photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey, shows a smoke plume from the June 27th flow from the Kilauea volcano in Pahoa, Hawaii. Lava from one of the world's most active volcanos has been advancing at a slower pace the past few days and is now moving parallel to a sparsely populated subdivision on Hawaii's Big Island. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey, Tim Orr)


Having the cheapest land in one of the nation's most expensive states has long made Puna an attractive option for many from the U.S. mainland seeking to retire in Hawaii or buy vacation homes.

Homes in Puna may sell for one-third or half of comparable homes on Oahu, where Honolulu is located.

Heard initially came to the island more than three decades ago to take care of the grandchildren of a wealthy family from her home state of California. She was living in a subdivision called Royal Gardens when Kilauea began erupting.

The lava flow kept prompting evacuation warnings each month. Finally, after about five years, she dismantled her house and reassembled it in Leilani Estates, a subdivision nestled among the thick forest.

She left not because lava was about to cover her property, though, but because lava could cover the main access road.



This Monday, Sept. 8, 2014, aerial photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey shows a smoke plume from the June 27th flow from the Kilauea volcano in Pahoa, Hawaii. Lava from one of the world's most active volcanos has been advancing at a slower pace the past few days and is now moving parallel to a sparsely populated subdivision on Hawaii's Big Island. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey, Tim Orr)


Her family's only way to town was via a circuitous 70-mile one-way route through a nearby national park. Lava eventually consumed her Royal Gardens property, but not until 2009.

"Life goes on. If you dwell on it, you'll go crazy," she said.

Residents like Heard say living on a volcano is a lot like living in disaster-prone areas on the mainland.

Heard asks why people live on the San Andreas fault in California even though they may be hit by a large earthquake at any time. Or why people live in Florida where they might be battered by hurricanes each summer.

"Ever worry about living in a high-rise? It's the same kind of thing. We all have those worries. But does it consume me? No," she said.

George Cortez, a security guard who was born and raised near Hilo, reminds people that the land belongs to Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess, and that people are living on it because she lets them.

"If she's going to come and wants to take your place, she's going to do it," he said, echoing a common Big Island refrain.


http://news.yahoo.com/residents-hawaii-lava-part-living-paradise-202003604.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Respite possible for Hawaii community as lava flow shifts course
Reuters
By Malia Mattoch McManus  47 minutes ago



HONOLULU (Reuters) - A volcanic lava flow that threatens a subdivision on Hawaii's Big Island has shifted slightly, potentially sparing some homes but increasing the number of residents who may be "lava-locked" if the flow overtakes a highway, a civil defense official said on Tuesday.

The lava flow from the continuously erupting Kilauea volcano is moving through forested terrain toward the Kaohe Homesteads subdivision, and after a recent tack northward could reach nearby Highway 130 within 16 to 18 days, according to Hawaiian Volcano Observatory projections.

"The flow is continuing moving parallel to the subdivision," said Darryl Oliveira, director of Big Island Civil Defense. "There are inconsistencies in the terrain, lots of cracks and features that could influence the flow, so it's difficult to say what will be the progression."

Scientists had issued a warning to residents last week after lava crept to within a mile (1.6 km) of the outer edge of a forest reserve that sits a tenth of a mile (160 meters) from some of the estimated 30 to 50 homes in the subdivision, and said lava could reach the subdivision within roughly a week.

But more current projections show that slow-moving lava could flow either through the north part of the subdivision, or to the north of it depending on the impact of the terrain, scientists said.

Big Island Mayor Billy Kenoi declared a state of emergency for the area last Thursday, citing potential harm to residents and homes as well as risks posed to roads.

While officials have not ordered an evacuation, authorities have begun restricting subdivision access to residents to ease congestion for those wishing to evacuate voluntarily.

Big Island resident Jerry Konanui, who has been removing equipment and materials from his Kaohe farm, said the projection of a more northerly lava route could mean the flow may bypass his farm, "but we really don't know for sure."

He worried the new projected path would cut Highway 130 off for even more residents of the Puna area, where Mayor Kenoi said more than 8,000 people would be affected if lava overtakes portions of Highway 130.

Authorities say the further north the lava hits the highway, the more residents would be affected.

The Kilauea volcano has continuously erupted from its Pu’u O’o vent since 1983. The latest lava flow began on June 27.

The last home destroyed by lava on the Big Island was at the Royal Gardens subdivision in Kalapana in 2012, Oliveira said.

(Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Eric Walsh)


http://news.yahoo.com/respite-possible-hawaii-community-lava-flow-shifts-course-232922052.html