Pahoa Town under Lava Flow Threat
As if we didn't have enough disasters in our lives....
The main highway to Pahoa is not only a vehicle access, but also a backbone for electrical & water transmission, and concerns are mounting that these services will be disrupted for the many thousands of residents who would be cut off by the lava flow. Businesses are worried about big losses and local schools and government are making contingency plans should the community be divided. Emergency repairs to wells and road construction to create alternate access are also under discussion. This area was the hardest hit during Tropical Storm Iselle just one month ago, and many residents are still on edge.
The lava warning has created an “edgy” mood in Puna, the rural region on the southeast side of the Big Island that is at risk from the lava, said Bill Parecki, a real estate agent who has lived in the area for 42 years. The area is still recovering from the damage from a tropical storm about a month ago.
“Everybody’s a little concerned,” he said. “Everybody’s a little worried. We just have to see where the lava goes. There’s no control. It’s Mother Nature.”
A big concern is lava crossing roads and blocking Puna off from the rest of the island, or becoming “lava-locked,” he said.
Business has been quiet since Tropical Storm Iselle made landfall over the region last month, said Mary Bicknell, owner of Big Island Book Buyers, a bookstore in downtown Pahoa.
“We’re always watching it, but we’re not usually threatened by it,” she said of the lava.
From the Governor’s Office:
HONOLULU – Gov. Neil Abercrombie today issued an executive order that turns over 3.68 miles of the state-owned portion of Chain of Craters Road near Kalapana to Hawaii County.
The executive order states that the land is “hereby turned over to the County of Hawaii, in fee simple, for use as a county highway, and the County of Hawaii shall hereafter be responsible for its repair and maintenance as a county highway.”
On Sept. 15, Gov. Abercrombie signed a supplemental emergency proclamation to include the repair, restorations, rebuilding, or reestablishment of Chain of Craters Road, for use as an alternate emergency route should the June 27th lava flow cross Highway 130 near Pahoa and isolate communities in lower Puna from the rest of Hawaii County. That proclamation, a supplement to the original emergency proclamation signed on Sept. 5, also extended the disaster emergency relief period through Dec. 1, 2014.
The original proclamation suspended certain laws as needed for emergency purposes, including state restrictions on reestablishing abandoned roads that may be used should lava cross Highway 130. It also activated the Major Disaster Fund set aside by the state Legislature for disaster relief and facilitates access to emergency resources at the state and federal levels.
