We have been watching the progress of
the lava flow in the Puna area for the past two weeks as it slowly worked its
way toward a fork in the path. The US Geological Survey mapped out two possible
paths for the flow to take which came very close to each other about two miles
above the town of Pahoa. Everyone waited as the flow approached the point where
it would either head off to the north and possibly die out before doing damage,
or head toward the town of Pahoa.
Pele has finally decided which way to
steer the flow. At this time the flow is following the path projected by the USGS toward Pahoa and the
Pahoa Marketplace at the intersection of Pahoa Village Road and Route 130. It
is currently about one mile above the intersection and at its current flow rate
could reach Route 130 in about a week. Cutting Route 130 would make a difficult
situation in Puna worse as that is the main artery to the area. The stores in
the Pahoa Marketplace have already made plans for closing, with the Village
Market planning to vacate on Thursday, 12/18. The gas station also has plans in
place to empty their underground tanks and replace the gasoline with water.
Although Civil Defense has not yet ordered an evacuation, everyone is ready to
leave at any time.
