Pele makes her way into Pahoa subdivision

Lava from Kilauea’s East Rift Zone has entered the Kaohe Homesteads subdivision, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said Monday.

Hawaii County spokes­man Kevin Dayton said the lava entered vacant land with no houses in a state-owned area in the subdivision.

"There is no imminent threat to houses," Dayton said.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists Monday conducted aerial reconnaissance of the lava flow and estimated that it had gone about 300 yards into the northwestern corner of the subdivision.

Observatory spokeswoman Janet Babb said the flow’s front was about 2.7 miles from Pahoa Village Road and about 2 miles from Apaa Street.

Scientists said the lava flow has widened and advanced north-northeastward.

"The flow is advancing at a fairly steady rate, although it has slowed a bit in recent days," Babb said.

Babb said that earlier, the lava was advancing at 400 meters a day but now is moving at about 215 meters a day.

"That’s the nature of a flow — it can speed up and slow down," she said.

From the Kilauea vent to the lava’s front, the lava flow now extends about 9.6 miles, Babb said.

On Sunday the flow shifted north, running parallel to the mauka boundary of the Kaohe Homesteads subdivision.

The county has advised nearby communities that construction on Railroad Avenue and Government Beach Road will continue into the coming week as workers prepare an alternate road access in the event that Highway 130 is cut off by the flow.

Thousands travel Highway 130 daily.

Mayor Billy Kenoi has issued an emergency proclamation and urged residents to prepare for the evacuation of families, pets and livestock. No evacuation has been ordered.

Since mid-August the flow has been following a pattern of entering and filling surface cracks, traveling underground and then emerging as a surface flow.

A vent in the East Rift Zone of Kilauea Volcano started erupting Jan. 3, 1983, and has continued erupting for more than 30 years, with most of the lava flows advancing to the south.

In the past two years, lava has flowed from the vent toward the northeast.

The June 27 flow, the most recent of these flows, is the first to threaten a residential area since 2010-2011.

The next community update meeting with representatives from Hawaii County Civil Defense and the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the Pahoa High School cafeteria.