Slow-motion disaster as lava nears main Hawaiian road

A slow-motion disaster continued on Hawaii's Big Island Thursday, as lava from the Kilauea volcano slowly oozed toward a main road in the village of Pahoa, threatening to cut off thousands of residents from the rest of the island.

Once it's covered by lava — which could happen any day — the Pahoa Village Road would be the second of three roads going to and from the 800-person town to be blocked, with the main highway next in line, said Ken Hon, a geology professor at the University of Hawaii-Hilo.

If and when that second horoughfare is blocked, the residents of lower Pahoa would be living "a new reality," said Janet Babb, a geologist with the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Overall, there are roughly 9,000 people who live in the lower Pahoa area who might potentially be cut off by the lava.

Residents and visitors have been waiting by the town post office to witness the lava crossing Pahoa Village Road, Big Island Video News reported. The lava tourists are coming from all over the island, bringing their lawn chairs and camping out next to the police road block in the hopes of having a good view.

"It's like slow torture," said Paul Utes, who owns the Black Rock Cafe in Pahoa. "It speeds up, it slows down, it speeds up, it slows down. It's not like any other event where it comes and goes ... and you can move on."

Predicting the future speed of the lava flow simply isn't possible, geologists say, because the advance rate is extremely variable and depends on how much lava the volcano produces.

As of Thursday morning, the lava was moving forward at just under 5 yards per hour, the volcano observatory reported. Residents in the flow path have been placed on an evacuation advisory and were notified of the possible need to leave.

The county has carved out alternate roads as backups if and when the main highway is covered, but those could eventually be covered by lava, too, Babb said. If that happens, an even more remote alternate road would then have to be carved out on the far side of the area, closer to the volcano, she said.

In addition to roads, Hon said officials must have backup plans to keep utilities such as water and electricity running in the area.

In the meantime, the visitors flocking to Pahoa to get a glimpse of the lava are bringing added business to restaurants and bars, KHON-TV reported.

Leslie Lai, owner of of Kaleo's Bar and Grill, told the TV station she's seen a 20% increase in business since the lava made headlines.

Though the eruption has been going on continuously since January 1983, lava from Kilauea began to flow June 27 after several new fissures opened on the northeast flank of a crater on the volcano.

Instead of flowing south in its usual path toward the ocean — a direction where no one now lives — the fissures forced the lava to flow in a northeasterly direction, closer to the small town.

Contributing: The Associated Press