Hawaii volcano eruption: SHOCK PICTURES of Kapoho Bay before and after
HAWAII’S Mount Kilauea continues to terrorise Big Island, destroying homes and shattering the lives of those who live there. With the most recent lava tide totally re-shaping the Kapoho Bay landscape, the number of properties destroyed has skyrocketed. Here is the latest news and shocking pictures of the bay before and after.
By KATE WHITFIELD
Express.co.uk
Thu, Jun 7, 2018
The wall of lava, about five metres tall, has totally engulfed the seaside resorts of Kapoho Beach Lots and Vacationland, obliterating everything that was once built there.
Lava poured into two oceanfront subdivisions, smothering hundreds of homes and filling an ocean bay, turning it into new land that now juts into the sea.
Official statistics show the number of homes destroyed by Kilauea is now more than 400.
Nearby neighbourhoods Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens had previously felt the wrath of Kilauea’s fury, but the lava path turned north-east and took out Kapoho.
Officials have said that Kapoho Bay itself has been filled in with lava that extended nearly a mile from what had been the shoreline.
A spokesperson for Hawaii County Civil Defence said: “What used to be the bay is now all lava bed, new land, almost a mile out into the ocean.”
Incredible footage taken from circling helicopters shows houses engulfed in flames as lava pours into the ocean, releasing hydrochloric acid fumes known as ‘laze’ – lava haze.
USGS volcanologist Wendy Stovall said: “Vacationland is gone, there’s no evidence of any properties there at all.”
County officials said the two subdivisions have 279 homes, and most are feared destroyed from the most recent lava flows in the low-lying area.
“Over the course of essentially two days, that entire area was covered by lava,” Stovall said.
Authorities began evacuating the Kapoho Bay area last week as the lava began heading for the area.
The last remaining residents were out of the path of danger by Saturday, just hours before lava cut off all roads to the area.
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