Hawaii officials airlift 4 residents after lava crosses road
PAHOA (AP) — Fast-moving lava crossed a road and isolated about 40 homes last Friday in a rural subdivision below Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano, forcing at least four people to be evacuated by county and National Guard helicopters.
Hawaii County Civil Defense said police, firefighters and National Guard troops were securing the area of the Big Island and stopping people from entering.
The homes were isolated in the area east of Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens — two neighborhoods where lava has destroyed 40 structures, including 26 homes, over the past two weeks.
Officials were assessing how many people were still in the newly threatened area. They were advising people to shelter in place and await further instructions.
County officials have been encouraging residents in the district to prepare for potential evacuations.
Experts are uncertain about when the volcano will calm down.
The Big Island volcano had an explosive eruption at its summit last Thursday, sending ash and rocks thousands of feet into the sky. No one was injured and there were no reports of damaged property.
Scientists said the eruption was the most powerful in recent days, though it probably lasted only a few minutes.
It came two weeks after the volcano began sending lava flows into neighborhoods 40 kilometers to the east of the summit.
A new lava vent — the 22nd such fissure — was reported last Friday by county civil defense officials.
Meanwhile, the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is monitoring the status of Filipinos in Hawaii as experts warn of more violent eruptions of Kilauea.
In a statement, the DFA said the Philippine consulate in Honolulu is in touch with members of the Filipino community and has urged them to follow instructions from authorities.
Some 15,000 Filipinos live in the Big Island where Kilauea is located, with about 500 living near the affected area.