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| Hawaii volcano lava threatens homes | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: 6 Sep 2014, 12:24 AM (144 Views) | |
| skibboy | 6 Sep 2014, 12:24 AM Post #1 |
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5 September 2014 Hawaii volcano lava threatens homes ![]() The lava flow could cover highways if it continues to erupt Hawaii's Big Island has declared a state of emergency as a lava flow from Kilauea volcano is less than a mile (1.6km) from a residential community. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said the lava could reach the Kaohe Homesteads in about five to seven days. Kilaeuea has been continuously erupting since 1983, but lava began flowing from a new vent on 27 June, moving 800ft a day. Lava flows from the volcano previously wiped out neighbourhoods in 1990. The emergency declaration will allow officials to restrict travel on certain roads to allow residents to evacuate. ![]() ![]() No evacuation order is in place, but Hawaiian officials are telling those in the community and around the Puna district to be prepared. During a community hearing on Thursday, residents were divided over whether to attempt to divert the flow, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald newspaper reported. One resident said "to Native Hawaiians, Pele is our kupuna, she is our ancestor," referring to the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes. ![]() ![]() "This is her place and if she feels she needs to clean her house, then let her clean her house," Ihilani Niles said. There are no plans for diversion attempts county civil defence official Darryl Oliveira said, because it could redirect the lava to another community. Source:
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| skibboy | 28 Oct 2014, 02:22 AM Post #2 |
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27 October 2014 Hawaii volcano lava wave nears homes © USGS/AFP/File | Breakouts of lava from Hawaii's Kilauea volcano are seen near the West end of Wilipe, Hawaii, on July 31, 2002 LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Smoldering lava from a slow-erupting volcano has reached within yards (several meters) of homes on Hawaii's Big Island, emergency officials said Monday as villagers braced to evacuate. The lava flow from the Kilauea volcano has been threatening nearby homes for weeks, and was 100 yards (91 meters) from the nearest house by early Monday. The lava front was moving at between 10-15 yards (9-14 m) an hour. "Based on the current flow location, direction and advancement, residents in the flow path were placed on an evacuation advisory," said the County of Hawaii's Civil Defense force in an online update. The slow-moving waves of lava, burning everything in its path, had advanced some 275 yards (251 m) in the past 24 hours towards Pahoa town, on the eastern tip of the island, officials said. Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi declared a state of emergency last month after the lava advanced to within a mile (1.6 km) of a residential area known as the Ka'ohe Homesteads. Last week, Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie requested a Presidential Disaster Declaration to unlock federal resources to help local emergency protective measures. As the lava threatens a main road in the area, measures needed include providing alternative routes and accommodating some 900 children that will be displaced by the lava, according to Abercrombie's office. Hawaii Island, or the Big Island, is the largest of the eight main islands which make up the Pacific US state -- an archipelago that includes hundreds of smaller volcanic islands. Source:
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| skibboy | 29 Oct 2014, 12:41 AM Post #3 |
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28 October 2014 Hawaiian village Pahoa evacuates as Kilauea lava threatens Residents of a Hawaiian village threatened by lava have begun evacuating as the flow threatens the first house in its path. Two roads to Pahoa have been closed and a cemetery has already been overtaken by the flow from the Kilauea volcano. "We are still praying," said Imelda Raras as the lava approaches her house. "I hope our home will be spared." Kilauea on the Big Island has been erupting since 1983, but lava has recently burst forth from a new vent. The town's residents will be allowed to watch the destruction of their homes "as a means of closure", officials said. And they will be allowed to take photos and video for insurance purposes. "You can only imagine the frustration as well as... despair they're going through," said Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Darryl Oliveira. Mrs Raras said she and her husband are ready to go to a friend's home if they are ordered to leave. ![]() The lava flow from the Kilauea volcano cuts off a street in Pahoa On Tuesday morning, officials said the lava had crossed into the property of the threatened home on the edge of Pahoa. Many residents of the town of 800 have already left or made plans to do so, Mr Oliveira said. The couple living in the house closest to the flow have evacuated but have been returning to gather belongings, he said. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ![]() Can you stop lava? At temperatures of about 1,000C (1,832F), lava destroys whatever it touches. Its path is notoriously hard to predict. The ability to impede or redirect lava largely depends on location, resources and luck. Decades ago in Hawaii, the US attempted to bomb a lava flow, only to see the bomb craters refill. In Iceland, crews made use of billions of gallons of cold water around a nearby harbour to cool the lava in place. And barriers along Mount Etna in Italy redirected a flow away from a tourist area. But these attempts have been helped by a natural slowing or halting of lava eruptions. "You have to be in a wealthy country with a lot at stake to even consider" lava diversion, Dr Shannon Nawotniak told the BBC, particularly given the volume of volcanic eruptions and the potential costs. "You might buy yourself some time until the volcano stops itself." ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ![]() The flow came to a standstill in September before flowing faster towards Pahoa ![]() Kilauea volcano has continuously erupted since 1983, but a new lava vent has recently threatened communities on Hawaii's Big Island "They are out of the property and awaiting the events to unfold." The flow, now 55yds wide, advanced about 275yds between Sunday morning and Monday morning. It has been moving at an average of five to 10yds an hour, but has done so fitfully, sometimes slowing down to two yards or speeding up to 20, depending on topography, said Janet Babb, a spokeswoman for the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. Decomposed vegetation in the lava's path has also produced methane explosions at the front of the flow, Ms Babb said. "It's not a massive explosion," she said. "But it can dislodge rocks." After the new vent opened in July, lava threatened a separate community before coming to a standstill in September. ![]() Decomposing vegetation has created methane explosions at the front of the flow ![]() Source:
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| skibboy | 30 Oct 2014, 01:20 AM Post #4 |
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29 October 2014 Hawaiian lava flow creeps toward homes ![]() The lava can exceed temperatures of 1,600F (900C) Rain has helped tamp down smoke from a creeping lava flow which threatens residents of a Hawaiian village. The slow moving, red hot lava from Kilauea volcano has been flowing toward the village of Pahoa for weeks. Hotter than 1,600F (900C), it advanced 90 yards (82m) overnight on Tuesday and threatens homes and property. Evacuated residents packed up their homes and relocated to neighbouring areas as they awaited word of the molten lava's spread. "People have their life savings in their properties here. They face losing it all," businessman Mike Metcalf told the Reuters news agency. Rain on Wednesday was not enough to limit the lava flow, but did help limit the smoke emanating from the spreading stream. For the first time, the lava could be seen from the homes that are in its path. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A family prepares ![]() Denise Lagrimas is packing up her family's home in preparation for the oncoming lava flow. "I don't want to stick around and just wait for it to come and take it," she said. "You just never know." Though it remains unclear if the home will be in the lava's path, the Lagrimas family decided to move to a nearby town. They have also expressed concern the lava will block roads and prevent them from reaching their jobs in a coastal town to the north. "We didn't want to go anywhere where it's close enough where we would have to evacuate again," Ms Lagrimas said. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ![]() It is thought that defences created outside Pahoa will not stem the lava flow Kilauea on the Big Island has been erupting since 1983, but lava has recently burst forth from a new vent. Two roads to Pahoa have been closed and a cemetery has already been overtaken by the lava. The town's residents will be allowed to watch the destruction of their homes "as a means of closure", officials said. And they will be allowed to take photos and video for insurance purposes. "You can only imagine the frustration as well as... despair they're going through," said Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Darryl Oliveira. ![]() Lava flow burns through thick vegetation and a fence It has been moving at an average of five to 10m an hour, but has done so fitfully, sometimes slowing down to two yards or speeding up to 20, depending on topography, said Janet Babb, a spokeswoman for the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. Decomposed vegetation in the lava's path has also produced methane explosions at the front of the flow, Ms Babb said. "It's not a massive explosion," she said. "But it can dislodge rocks." After the new vent opened in July, lava threatened a separate community before coming to a standstill in September. Source:
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| skibboy | 1 Nov 2014, 01:46 AM Post #5 |
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Hawaii volcano: Lava flow stalls, though official wary of 'breakouts' By Greg Botelho and Martin Savidge, CNN October 31, 2014 ![]() Lava flow oozing closer Still, authorities warned Thursday that the threat to eastern Hawaii residents -- much like the oozing, simmering, destructive lava itself -- hasn't gone away. Darryl Oliveira, the director of the Hawaii County Civil Defense, told reporters that "there's been no movement forward" at the front of the destructive lava stream between Wednesday and Thursday. "But there's lots of activity behind it," Oliveira said. "... There are breakouts along the margins that we'll have to watch and be wary of." The lava began moving toward the area of Pahoa, on Hawaii's Big Island, in June, when a volcanic crater vented and released the river of liquid rock. It's been creeping along ever since, with authorities warning at one point the main road in Pahoa could be overcome by Friday morning. The lack of recent movement changes that equation, though the main flow -- which is about 20 yards wide at its tip, expanding to 100 yards farther back -- is still within about 480 feet of that street. There's no guarantee of what happens next, including whether the stream resumes its forward movement or whether any of its offshoots encroach on people or properties. A USGS geologist has said the lava flow could continue for 30 years. As Matthew Patrick, a geologist with the Hawaii Volcano Observatory, explained Thursday: "The flow is still active, and there is still scattered activity in the flow. "So it's just a matter of where that activity is at any given moment." On Wednesday, Oliveria said about 20 families in the path of the lava have been told to evacuate. Many others have packed up, "prepared to move at a moment's notice" should they, too, get the order. "You can see some of them walking around; they are still very upset, distraught, frustrated -- the full range of emotions as they're dealing with this crisis," the civil defense director said Thursday. So far, thankfully, no homes have been buried. Nor have any vehicles. Instead, it's mostly grass and vegetation that have been immersed and scorched. This isn't a lazy river, after all. It's a 2,000-degree river of molten rock, the kind that a firefighter can't use a hose to stop. "As it moves across soil, you can hear and smell the fire," said Troy Scott of the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency. "It is incredibly hot ... the heat is very strong." That's why there are ongoing efforts to make sure people and property are protected, as well as to clear out any hazardous materials, such as those at a one-time gas station, in the lava's potential path. Local civil defense officials got some help Thursday, in the form of 80 Hawaii National Guard members. Oliveria explained that these guardsmen will drive around on patrols as an extra set of eyes. He said, "As long as we need them, they'll be here." CNN's Martin Savidge reported from Pahoa; Greg Botelho reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Holly Yan contributed to this report. Source:
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