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Tag: Kailua-Kona

  • Molten lava on Hawaii’s Big Island could block main highway

    Molten lava on Hawaii’s Big Island could block main highway

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    HILO, Hawaii (AP) — Many people on the Big Island of Hawaii are bracing for major upheaval if lava from Mauna Loa volcano slides across a key highway and blocks the quickest route connecting two sides of the island.

    The molten rock could make the road impassable and force drivers to find alternate coastal routes in the north and south. That could add hours to commute times, doctor’s visits and freight truck deliveries.

    “I am very nervous about it being cut off,” said Frank Manley, a licensed practical nurse whose commute is already an hour and 45 minutes each way from his home in Hilo to a Kaiser Permanente clinic in Kailua-Kona.

    If the highway closes, he anticipates driving two-and-a-half to three hours in each direction. Manley fears he might lose pay if an accident or other traffic disruption along an alternate route delays his arrival.

    The lava is oozing slowly at a rate that might reach the road next week. But its path is unpredictable and could change course, or the flow could stop completely and spare the highway.

    The slow-moving flow was coursing about 2.7 miles (4.3 kilometers) from the road Friday, U.S. Geological Survey scientists reported.

    There are more affordable housing options on the island’s east side, home to the county seat, Hilo. But many jobs at beach resorts, in construction and other industries are readily available on the west side, where Kailua-Kona is located. Saddle Road, also known as Route 200 or Daniel K. Inouye Highway, connects the two communities.

    The state Department of Transportation took steps Thursday to remove potential traffic obstacles on the northern coastal route by reopening a lane across Nanue Bridge that was closed for repairs.

    Hilo also is one of the island’s major harbors, where a wide variety of goods arrive by ship before proceeding across the island by truck.

    Hawaii County Councilor Susan “Sue” L. K. Lee Loy, who represents Hilo and parts of Puna, said she’s concerned about big rigs traveling across aging coastal bridges.

    “It’s going to take a lot to rethink how we move about on Hawaii Island,” she said.

    Manley said he would have to get up at 3 a.m. to reach work by 8 a.m. If he left at 5 p.m., he wouldn’t get home until 8 p.m. “That drastically reduces my amount of time that I would be able to spend with my family,” he said.

    Tanya Harrison of Hilo said she would need a full day off work to travel to her doctor in Kona.

    There are more than 200,000 Big Island residents. Amidst throngs of tourists, delivery trucks and commuters forced to reroute, Harrison said she couldn’t imagine the congestion.

    “It might even be quicker just to fly to Honolulu,” she said of the hour flight. “There’s no line at the Hilo airport. Fly over, see the doctor, come back would actually be quicker than driving.”

    Outrigger Kona Resort & Spa plans to provide rooms at a Kailua-Kona hotel so its dozen or so Hilo-based employees can avoid the long commute five days per week.

    A shutdown could also affect major astronomy research at the summit of Mauna Kea, a 13,803-foot (4,207-meter) peak next to Mauna Loa that is home to some of the world’s most advanced telescopes.

    The road heading to Mauna Kea’s summit is midway between Hilo and Kona. If lava crosses Saddle Road on either side of Mauna Kea Access Road, many telescope workers would be forced to take long, circuitous routes.

    Rich Matsuda, associate director for external relations at W.M. Keck Observatory, said telescopes may need to adjust staff schedules and house workers at a facility partway up the mountain for a while so they don’t have to commute.

    There’s also a chance the lava flow may head directly across the lower part of Mauna Kea Access Road, which could block workers from reaching the summit. Matsuda hopes they’ll be able to use gravel or other bypass routes if that happens.

    The telescopes previously have shut down for multi-day or weeklong winter storms. “So we’re prepared to do that if we have to,” Matsuda said.

    Hilo resident Hayley Hina Barcia worries about the difficulty of reaching west-side surf spots and relatives in different parts of the island.

    “A lot of my family is on the Puna side and we have other family in Kona,” Barcia said. “We use this road to see each other, especially with the holidays coming up, to spend time, so we’re looking to have to go several hours longer to go the south way or taking the north road.”

    Geologists with the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said if Mauna Loa follows historical patterns, they expect the eruption, which began Sunday night, to continue for one to two weeks.

    Since then, traffic has clogged the road as people try to glimpse the lava. A handful of resulting accidents included a two-vehicle crash that sent two people to the hospital with “not serious injuries,” Hawaii Police Department spokesperson Denise Laitinen said.

    U.S. Rep. Ed Case and U.S. Rep. Kaiali’i Kahele sent a letter to President Joe Biden saying Hawaii County would need “immediate help” to keep island communities safe if lava flow blocks the highway. The two Hawaii Democrats noted that restricted access could hinder emergency services because one of the island’s primary hospitals is on the east side.

    ___

    McAvoy reported from Honolulu. Associated Press writers Jennifer Sinco Kelleher in Honolulu and Andrew Selsky in Salem, Oregon, contributed.

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  • Hawaii volcano eruption has some on alert, draws onlookers

    Hawaii volcano eruption has some on alert, draws onlookers

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    HILO, Hawaii — The first eruption in 38 years of the world’s largest active volcano is attracting onlookers to a national park for “spectacular” views of the event, and it’s also dredging up bad memories among some Hawaii residents who have been through harrowing volcanic experiences in the past.

    It was just four years ago that Nicole Skilling fled her home near a community where more than 700 residences were destroyed by lava. She relocated to the South Kona area, only to find herself packing her car with food and supplies this week after Mauna Loa erupted late Sunday.

    Officials were initially concerned that lava flowing down the side of the volcano would head toward South Kona, but scientists later assured the public that the eruption migrated to a rift zone on Mauna Loa’s northeast flank and wasn’t threatening any communities.

    Still, the uncertainty is somewhat unnerving.

    “It just happened last night, so I really haven’t had a lot of time to worry about it yet, basically,” Skilling said Monday. “And thankfully, right now, it’s at the northeast rift zone. But if it breaks on the west side, that’s when we’re talking about coming into a large populated area. … That’s why I do have a little bit of PTSD.”

    Even though there were no evacuation orders, some people decided to leave their homes, prompting officials to open shelters in the Kona and Kau areas. Very few if any stayed in them overnight, Hawaii County Mayor Mitch Roth said, and they would be closing Tuesday.

    “Cleary the danger for the Kau area and Kona area has gone, so there’s really no need to have the shelter up there any longer,” Roth said.

    Despite that, some in the area were preparing for unpredictable changes.

    Kamakani Rivera-Kekololio, who lives in the south Kona community of Hookena, was keeping supplies like food and blankets in his car.

    “We’re being makaukau for anything,” Rivera-Kekololio said, using the Hawaiian word for “ready.”

    Ken Hon, scientist-in-charge at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, said Tuesday that the lava was flowing “not super fast” at less than 1 mph. It was moving downhill about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from Saddle Road, which connects the east and west sides of the island. The flow was likely to slow down about 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) from the road when it hits flatter ground.

    Lava crossed the Mauna Loa Observatory access road Monday night and cut off power to the facility, Hon added. It could move toward the county seat of Hilo, but that could take a week or longer.

    Meanwhile, scientists are trying to measure the gas emitted from the eruption.

    “It’s just very early in this eruption right now,” Hon said.

    The eruption is drawing visitors to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which is open 24 hours a day. “The viewing has been spectacular” especially before sunrise and at night, park spokeswoman Jessica Ferracane said.

    Visitors there are currently able to witness two eruptive events: the glow from Kilauea’s lava lake and lava from a Mauna Loa fissure.

    “This is a rare time where we have two eruptions happening simultaneously,” Ferracane said.

    Hilo resident Lea Ferreira said she doesn’t plan to be one of those spectators. And she’s not worried about this eruption because she remembers the last one in 1984.

    “This is nothing. She came out quiet, very quiet,” she said, referring to Pele, the Hawaiian deity of volcanoes and fire. “In 1984, you could see the flow high in the air.”

    Ferreira said she could see only a bit of the glow and a “very small amount of lava” from Hilo.

    Some people were driving to get a closer look, but Ferreira won’t: “I’ll let her do her thing.”

    ———

    Kelleher reported from Honolulu. Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed.

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  • Lava from Hawaii volcano lights night sky amid warnings

    Lava from Hawaii volcano lights night sky amid warnings

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    KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii — Waves of orange, glowing lava and ash blasted and billowed from the world’s largest active volcano in its first eruption in 38 years, and officials told people living on Hawaii’s Big Island to be ready in the event of a worst-case scenario.

    The eruption of Mauna Loa wasn’t immediately endangering towns, but the U.S. Geological Survey warned the roughly 200,000 people on the Big Island that an eruption “can be very dynamic, and the location and advance of lava flows can change rapidly.”

    Officials told residents to be ready to evacuate if lava flows start heading toward populated areas. Monday night, hundreds of people lined a road as lava flowed down the side of Mauna Loa and fountained into the air.

    The eruption migrated northeast throughout Monday and spread out over the side of the volcano, with several distinct streams of lava running down the hillside.

    The eruption began late Sunday night following a series of fairly large earthquakes, said Ken Hon, scientist-in-charge at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

    The areas where lava was emerging — the volcano’s summit crater and vents along the volcano’s northeast flank — are both far from homes and communities.

    Officials urged the public to stay away from them, given the dangers posed by lava, which is shooting 100 to 200 feet (30 to 60 meters) into the air out of three separate fissures roughly estimated to be 1 to 2 miles (1.6 to 3.2 kilometers) long.

    Volcanic gases wafting out of the vents, primarily sulfur dioxide, are also harmful.

    Air quality on the Big Island more generally is good right now, but officials are monitoring it carefully, said Dr. Libby Char, the director of the state Department of Health.

    Hon said air quality could deteriorate while the eruption lasts, which scientists expect will be about one or two weeks if the volcano follows historical patterns.

    Lifelong Big Island resident Bobby Camara, who lives in Volcano Village, said everyone across the island should keep track of the eruption. He said he’s seen three Mauna Loa eruptions in his lifetime and stressed the need for vigilance.

    “I think everybody should be a little bit concerned,” he said. “We don’t know where the flow is going, we don’t know how long it’s going to last.”

    Gunner Mench, who owns an art gallery in Kamuela, said he awoke shortly after midnight and saw an alert on his phone about the eruption.

    Mench and his wife, Ellie, ventured out to film the eerie red glow cast over the island, watching as lava spilled down the volcano’s side.

    “You could see it spurting up into the air, over the edge of this depression,” Mench said.

    “Right now it’s just entertainment, but the concern is” it could reach populated areas, he said.

    Seeing Mauna Loa erupt is a new experience for many residents of the Big Island, where the population has more than doubled from 92,000 in 1980.

    More than a third of the island’s residents live either in the city of Kailua-Kona to the west of the volcano, or about 23,000 people, and Hilo to the east, with about 45,000. Officials were most worried about several subdivisions some 30 miles (50 kilometers) to the volcano’s south that are home to about 5,000 people.

    A time-lapse video of the eruption from overnight showed lava lighting up one area, moving across it like waves on the ocean.

    The U.S. Geological Survey said the eruption had migrated to a rift zone on the volcano’s northeast flank. Rift zones are where the mountain rock is cracked and relatively weak — making it easier for magma to emerge.

    Lava could move toward the county seat of Hilo, but that could take about a week, Hon said at a news conference.

    Scientists hope the flow will parallel the 1984 eruption, where the lava was more viscous and slowed down.

    Mauna Loa has another rift zone on its southwest flank. Lava could reach nearby communities in hours or days if the volcano erupts from this area. But Hon said historically Mauna Loa has never erupted from both rift zones simultaneously.

    “So we presume at this point that all of the future activity is going to be on the northeast rift zone of Mauna Loa and not on the southeast rift zone,” he said. “So those residents in that area do not have to worry about lava flows.”

    Hawaii County Civil Defense announced it had opened shelters because it had reports of people evacuating from along the coast on their own initiative.

    The USGS warned residents who could be threatened by the lava flows to review their eruption preparations. Scientists had been on alert because of a recent spike in earthquakes at the summit of the volcano, which last erupted in 1984.

    Portions of the Big Island were under an ashfall advisory issued by the National Weather Service in Honolulu. It said up to a quarter-inch (0.6 centimeters) of ash could accumulate in some areas.

    “Volcanic gas and possibly fine ash and Pele’s hair may be carried downwind,” Gov. David Ige said, referring to glass fibers that form when hot lava erupts from a fissure and rapidly cools in the air. The wind stretches the fibers into long strands that look like hair. “So certainly we would ask those with respiratory sensitivities to take precautions to minimize exposure.”

    Mauna Loa is one of five volcanoes that together make up the Big Island of Hawaii, the southernmost island in the Hawaiian archipelago.

    Mauna Loa, rising 13,679 feet (4,169 meters) above sea level, is the much larger neighbor of Kilauea, which erupted in a residential neighborhood and destroyed 700 homes in 2018. Some of Mauna Loa’s slopes are much steeper than Kilauea’s, so lava can flow much faster when it erupts.

    During a 1950 eruption, the mountain’s lava traveled 15 miles (24 kilometers) to the ocean in under three hours.

    Mauna Loa’s volume is estimated at least 18,000 square miles (75,000 square kilometers), making it the world’s largest volcano when measured from the ocean floor its summit.

    Tourism is Hawaii’s economic engine but Big Island Mayor Mitch Roth predicted few problems for those vacationing during the eruption.

    “It will be spectacular where it is, but the chances of it really interrupting the visitor industry — very, very slim,” he said.

    Tourism officials said no one should have to change Big Island travel plans.

    For some, the eruption might cut down on some travel time, even if there is more volcanic smog caused by higher sulfur-dioxide emissions.

    “But the good thing is you don’t have to drive from Kona over to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to see an eruption anymore,” Roth said. “You can just look out your window at night and you’ll be able to see Mauna Loa erupting.”

    ———

    Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Jennifer Sinco Kelleher and Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu; Alina Hartounian in Phoenix; and Mark Thiessen in Anchorage, Alaska.

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