Hawaii volcano eruption in PICTURES latest: Lava stream BLOCKS escape route
ENORMOUS lava rivers from Hawaii’s volcano have surged into the Pacific Ocean, closing part of a major coastal highway serving as an evacuation route. Here are the latest pictures following fresh eruptions from Kilauea on Saturday.
By KAT HOPPS
Express.co.uk
Sun, May 20, 2018
Hawaii authorities scrambled to evacuate people from their homes as lava spurted anew from fissure 20 on Saturday.
The blistering-hot stream was created after a new explosive volcanic eruption sent a two-mile-high ash plume skywards at 4pm local time on Saturday (3am Sunday BST).
Fast-flowing molten rivers crossed Highway 137 at the 13-mile marker around 10.30pm local time, with a second flow stopping just 400 metres short of the road.
Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency confirmed it had closed the the key highway between Kamaili Road and Pohoiki Road, while Kamaili Road was closed between Highway 130 and Highway 137.
Residents were advised to evacuate, while National Guard soldiers airlifted trapped residents from the Puna area after earlier lava isolated 40 homes.
Shocking aerial images showed the scale of the fast-moving rivers of fire.
In one picture, the flames of a burning house could be clearly seen amid a burning sea of red as the lava reached homes in Pahoa, Big Island.
So far 40 homes have been destroyed and thousands of people have been evacuated.
No-one has died but the Kilauea volcano has claimed its first serious injury.
Lava splatter shattered a man’s leg after he was hit on a third-floor balcony in Noni Farms Road.
Has the lava reached the ocean?
Officials also confirmed at about 11pm local time that lava had reached the Pacific Ocean, creating an additional threat of haze.
Laze, a blend of lava and haze, is a deadly corrosive gas “formed when hot lava hits the ocean sending hydrochloric acid and steam with fine glass particles into the air”.
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