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Lava moving at breakouts, but not at flow front

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  • USGS / HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY
    This thermal image and photo of the flow shows that surface breakouts were focused on three areas near the flow front: 1) the flow front itself

Lava is moving into the forest at a breakout a few hundred yards upslope of the flow front. But the front of the lava flow has not advanced since Sunday, volcano scientists and Hawaii County Civil Defense officials said after a Tuesday morning overflight.

The breakout advanced about 110 yards to the northeast since Monday, according to Tuesday’s Kilauea update from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. Other breakouts are closer to the Pu’u ‘O’o vent and midway along the flow route.

“None of these breakouts by itself has been very vigorous, but together they compose a significant portion of the total flow volume,” scientists said.

The front of the flow, about 1.4 miles upslope from Apaa Street on the outskirts of Pahoa, is about 100 yards wide and exhibiting “very little activity,” according to Hawaii County Civil Defense.

The flow has advanced 10.2 miles from its source at Pu’u ‘O’o crater since the current episode began on June 27.

This has been the slowest advance rate since scientists began warning the public of the approaching lava from Kilauea volcano about a month ago.

Officials aren’t attributing any significance to the lack of activity because it is common for lava to stop and start or move in unexpected directions, county spokesman Kevin Dayton said Monday.

“When you see this from the air, it has this look of inevitability to it,” Dayton said of the lava’s slow creep toward Pahoa, possibly to hit businesses and homes and cover a major highway that’s a lifeline for residents in the isolated Puna district. 

Gov. Neil Abercrombie on Monday added to his Sept. 5 emergency proclamation by signing a supplemental emergency proclamation that extends the disaster emergency relief period through Dec. 1. The supplemental proclamation also allows for the restoration of Chain of Craters Road, which previously was overrun with lava and would be rebuilt as one of three emergency routes out of lower Puna if lava were to overrun Highway 130.

“Even though the lava flow appears to have slowed to a halt for the time being, the state and Hawaii County are prepared and moving forward together with contingency plans in the event the lava does pro-gress farther,” Abercrombie said in a statement.

The National Park Service said Monday it would work with state and county officials on the emergency Chain of Craters route.

Work is expected to be completed by Wednesday to turn two other defunct, unpaved roads into alternate routes if lava crosses Highway 130, Dayton said.

The road work, estimated to cost as much as $2 million, is progressing as scheduled, even though a lock was broken and 100 gallons of diesel fuel was taken last week from a private bulldozer contracted by the county.

It’s been estimated the lava could reach roads in a matter of weeks, with the exact number of days fluctuating with changes in the lava’s path and progression. 

Russell Bellman, whose family owns Pahoa Village Center, said they are making preparations but for now it’s just mostly a waiting game. The center has 10 tenants, including medical offices, a video store and a restaurant. 

“If it did go south … we’re separated from customers and that’s bad,” he said. “If it goes right through us, it gets burned down. … If it goes north of us, we get cut off from the rest of the island.

“You know it’s coming and it’s utterly destructive and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.” 

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