LONDON: With lava run from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano finally stalling, life has begun to return to normal in the town of Pahoa on the Big Island.
In fact, the trash transfer station for the town will soon be re-opening next wee, according to Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Darryl Oliveira. The viewing area that Civil Defense set up near the transfer station to allow members of the public to safely observe the lava flow is even set to be dismantled, Oliveira said, remarking that the last days to view the now seemingly dormant lava flow will be Friday and Saturday. On Sunday the viewing site will be closed in order to return the Pahoa transfer station back into working order for a Monday re-opening.
The Pahoa lava flow had been threatening to demolish the town in its slow but inexorable slide down the slopes of Kilauea since summer of last year. The flow moved aggressively at first, only to finally seem to run out of steam around 500 feet from the town’s main road. Fingers of the lava broke off from the original flow, one of which poured over the edge of a small embankment on the edge of the transfer station to create a “lava waterfall” that scorched the facility’s asphalt; another demolished a home that had been vacated, leading to property damage but no loss of human life.
Meanwhile, Civil Defense officials have said that the lava flow has likely come to a final stop. With no activity since Monday, and with the main flow no closer to Highway 130 than 0.36 miles, officials seem confident that the danger to Pahoa is finally past and that things can begin returning to normal once more. The flow, which began on June 27 last year, traveled a total of 13 miles across the surface of the Big Island before finally coming to a stop. Kilauea of course is still considered to be actively erupting, and has been doing so since 1983. Over 200 structures have been destroyed by the eruption since then.
