June 1, 2018 Lava Reaches Kapoho
The humongous amount of lava emanating from Fissure 8 in Leilani continues to flow in a gigantic channel toward Kapoho. An enormous perched pond sits at the bottom of the subdivision, feeding the Kapoho flow… and occasionally breaching the walls of the holding area, quickly sending lava to the areas nearby. The flow front moved about a mile and a half overnight… and this morning was located between Green Mountain and the cinder pit to the north… she has now flowed directly over where Kapoho Town once stood…. and as of this writing, lava is just a half mile from Four Corners. Most likely, she will reach Four Corners at some point overnight. It now appears she may stay to the right of the kipuka, and may threaten Kapoho Beach Lots and Vacationland. The small flow far above Pohoiki and the Hot Pond is still active, but moving very slowly. We were able to see Pohoiki Road and the lower Malama St area in Leilani. Very, very little remains of Lani Puna Gardens, and the upper portion of Pohoiki Road is almost completely covered. Interestingly, we could clearly see the homes at the bottom of lower Malama in LE. The great majority on and around lower Malama are still standing… nearly all the vegetation burned or killed by the heavy gases that generally blow in that direction… but Pele has left most of the homes untouched. Also, a report has surfaced that lava has again returned to the Puna Geothermal Ventures plant… black smoke was rising from the facility. As always, Bruce and I will be updating our reports again tomorrow morning. Leilani Strong! Pray for Puna!!!
Mahalo to Paradise Helicopters and Bruce Omori at Extreme Exposure