Pahoa is a village in Hawaii in danger of being destroyed by the eruption of the Kilauea volcano, as molten lava creeps toward the town. Residents are evacuating the enclave, and are doing their best to protect what they can from the red-hot rock.
Kilauea is a highly-active volcano, which has been erupting for the last 31 years.
A new vent opened, releasing lava from Kilauea toward the village on June 27, which has spent nearly four months creeping toward the residential area. On October 25, the river of molten rock crossed Apa'a Road, which lies on the outer rim of town. The following day, lava covered a local cemetery.
The river of lava is 35 feet wide, as it heads toward Pahoa at about 30 feet per hour. As of October 26, the flow of molten rock was threatening to engulf between 50 and 60 buildings, including many private homes.
Evacuations may soon for the 50 people in greatest danger from the flow, according to a statement from Darryl Oliveira, Hawaii's county civil defense director.
Highway 130, the only thoroughfare in the lower Puna District, may be blocked by the flow of lava by the first week in November, some experts predict. Local officials have already constructed a pair of unpaved roads and are constructing a third, paved street in response to the lava flow. However, closure of Highway 130 could largely isolate the 9,000 people who live in the district, located on the east coast of the big island of Hawaii.
"The flow rate varied widely, advancing as fast as [48 feet per hour] at times Sunday afternoon [October 26], and slowing to less than [6.6 feet per hour] from 2:30 am to 7:30. The front is expected to pick up some speed today as it traverses slightly steeper terrain," the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported.
Members of the Civil Defense Community Response Team are traveling door to door in threatened regions, keeping residents informed of the latest conditions.
Engineering students have developed method of protecting power lines they believe will be effective at saving the infrastructure from destruction. These researchers from the department of geology at the University of Hawaii are surrounding each pole with an 18-foot wall of cattle fencing. This is then filled in with cinder and rocks.
"We are encouraged by the initial result of the pole protection design, but the long term results are still not determined. We will continue to closely monitor the flow and its effect on our infrastructure. As the lava flow progresses, we expect the lava will rise and inflate. This is the second test of our experimental design," Rhea Lee, spokesperson for Hawaii Electric Light, said in a press release.
