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The front of a lava flow on Hawaii island has not advanced since Sunday but a “small breakout flow” upslope from the leading edge has moved about 100 yards north, Hawaii County Civil Defense officials said Monday.
The breakout flow, however, does not pose an immediate threat to area communities and no evacuation is required, according to Civil Defense.
Hawaiian Electric Light Co. crews, meanwhile, continue to lay back-up utility lines along Government Beach Road, one of three emergency evacuation routes that crews are restoring and plan to re-open if lava crosses Highway 130 as expected in a couple of weeks.
Civil Defense officials reminded the public that the lava flow is not visible and cannot be accessed from any public areas. The Kaohe Homesteads subdivision near the flow remains off limits to non-residents.
The next lava flow community update meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Pahoa High School cafeteria. Representatives from county Civil Defense and the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory will be on hand to answer questions.
Also, the county has set up an Incident Command Center and Informational Resource Center at the Pahoa Community Center, open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
