Posted on 05/20/2018 6:11:23 AM PDT by texas booster
HILO A fiery river of molten rock was on a collision course Saturday night with Highway 137 and the Pacific Ocean, prompting officials to warn about hazardous volcanic gas known as laze if lava meets the sea.
The crossing, which hadnt happened by press time, would effectively split lower Puna in two, leaving only Highway 130 as the escape route for residents from Opihikao to Kalapana. That route remained passable after state highway crews placed plates over ground cracks formed due to magma intrusion along Kilaueas East Rift Zone.
Talmadge Magno, Hawaii County Civil Defense administrator, said there are few homes located near the anticipated crossing area, but officials were warning people up and down the road about the hazards. Mandatory evacuations are not expected unless Highway 130 is not an option for residents.
Highway 137, a scenic drive that winds along Punas rugged coast, known by some as Red Road, was mostly quiet Saturday, with a mix of vehicles belonging to evacuating residents and first responders seen driving by.
The flow was moving through the Malama Ki Forest Reserve and was expected to cross the road near MacKenzie beach park. By 6 p.m., it was about a half-mile away, according to Civil Defense, which issued a mandatory evacuation for Kamaili Road after the flow caused brush fires to threaten the area.
Lava has crossed Highway 137 at the 13-mile marker and has entered the ocean, according to Hawaii County Civil Defense.
A second flow is approximately 400 yards from Highway 137.
Highway 137 is closed between Kamaili Road and Pohoiki Road. Kamaili Road is closed between Highway 130 and Highway 137.
Thee goes the global warming and welcome the new nuclear winter that is coming to the world.
Get Hank on the case. Just tip it over and extinguish the fire!
ok pardner, but you go first . . .
FWIW, they thought better of the idea in that case. The problem is that upwards of 50,000 people live in the East Rift Zone. At least a couple of thousand have been evacuated, and there are hundreds in shelters. Seems to me like HI was not well prepared for this because the shelters are already experiencing some nasty problems and are just a stop gap solution for the permanently displaced. This is a charlie foxtrot. And HI could’ve avoided it with a sane permitting process and realistic planning. I still think the best solution is for Fed zillion to buy people out and add the area to the nearby national park.
Fedzilla to buy out...
Speaking of charlie, it's my general impression from this PAlabama vantage point that Hawaii and 'sane' aren't very well acquainted.
I just recently came across an excellent documentary detailing the history of Hawaii’s volcanoes. You will no doubt be surprised by some if not much of it. Not sure of the date, but it is from before this most recent activity.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xNbC0CSLH5o
Thank you, I’ll check it out.
Thank for the links.
I mean, it may be a few thousand degrees beneath that low bid steel plate covering the lava, but it's a dry heat ...
https://twitter.com/MilekaLincoln
Go here for good lava videos and reporting by Island babe >>>>
Mileka Lincoln
Well, I’m not coming away with this impressed by their state/local government. The problems the shelters are having were TOTALLY avoidable.
Bkmk
Hot enough to melt the tires of anyone who tries to drive over them?
I saw on another USGS post that the earlier lava flow was leftover, possibly from the 1955 eruption, based on the slow speed of the flow.
Now it looks like the lava is fresh and that accounts for the faster flows we saw over the weekend.
Who knew that lava has a sell by date?
Right from the start you’ll see it’s a well done, very informitve doct.
Hawaii...up in Smoke!
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