Thousands more may have to evacuate as lava from Hawaii’s erupting Kilauea volcano threatens to cut off the last escape routes and fissures continue to form
Two new fissures opened up on Hawaii’s Big Island on Monday threatening the last available escape routes
Lava from a huge new fissure tore through farmland towards a coastal dirt road that is one of the last exit routes for some 2,000 residents
More lava-belching cracks are expected to open among homes and countryside some 25 miles east of Kilauea’s smoking summit
Authorities are monitoring and mass evacuations will be triggered if lava hits either Highway 137 or 132
Dozens of homes have been destroyed since eruptions began 10 days ago
Nearly 2,000 residents in the lower Puna district of the Big Island were already evacuated last month
DAILYMAIL.COM
15 May 2018
Thousands more people may have to evacuate after lava flowing from giant rips in the earth on the flank of Hawaii’s erupting Kilauea volcano threatened the last available escape routes.
Two new fissures opened up on Hawaii’s Big Island on Monday, raising the possibility that officials might have to order further mass evacuations.
Lava from a huge new fissure tore through farmland towards a coastal dirt road that is one of the last exit routes for some 2,000 residents in the southeast area of Hawaii’s Big Island.
More lava-belching cracks are expected to open among homes and countryside some 25 miles east of Kilauea’s smoking summit, possibly blocking one of the last exit routes, Highway 132.
Fountains of magma spouted ‘lava bombs’ more than 100 feet into the air as the molten rock traveled east-southeast towards the coastal road – Highway 137 – the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said.
Mass evacuations would be triggered if either highway is hit by lava, according to Hawaii National Guard spokesman Jeff Hickman.
‘There’s a lot of worst-case scenarios and roads getting blocked is one of them,’ said Hickman, standing on Highway 137, in the potential path of the lava flow, some two miles away.
Dozens of homes have been destroyed since eruptions began 10 days ago and officials have ordered the evacuations of nearly 2,000 residents in the lower Puna district of the Big Island, home to around 187,000 people.
The American Red Cross said 500 people sought refuge in its shelters on Sunday night because of worsening volcanic activity.
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