KALAPANA, Hawaii >> Gary and Connie MacLeod of Kailua were ready to fly to the Big Island for some lava viewing yesterday when they learned the lava access road had been closed because of an approaching flow. Advancing lava flow
keeps visitors awaySEE: VOLCANO WATCH
By Rod Thompson
rthompson@starbulletin.comThey boarded the plane anyway, knowing they were going to miss the show.
"Bummer," said Gary MacLeod, stopped at a police roadblock.
County officials were expecting an updated report on the flow this morning. As of yesterday, its speed had slowed as the flow widened to about 150 feet in a low spot about 200 feet inland from the gravel access road, said Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientist Arnold Okamura.
Little damage was expected to the road since the terrain will keep the flow in a narrow stream at the crossing point, Okamura said.
The financial cost will also be low, since county, state and federal agencies used regular employees with little overtime, said county Managing Director Dixie Kaetsu. No exact tabulation of costs has been done yet, she said.
The flow is being fed by a surface outbreak from an underground lava tube. The surface outbreak appeared to draw off lava that had been going to the sea, and little or no steam was visible at the shore yesterday.The steam had been the principal attraction to viewers, since only brief glimpses of red lava were possible at the water's edge.
Yesterday morning, cars were arriving at the rate of about one every five to 10 minutes at the police roadblock at the end of the pavement on Highway 130.
Officer Tom Letulle was doing his best to keep people from feeling the drive from Hilo was a loss by suggesting they drive back by way of the scenic "Red Road" along the Puna coast.
People arriving in the morning would not have been permitted to see the lava anyway. Entry to the area during the two weeks that the access was open was allowed only between 2 and 8:30 p.m.
While disappointed, the MacLeods still had their memories of previous volcano visits. They had seen fountains as high as 1,000 feet from Pu'u 'O'o starting in 1984, the year after eruptions began in 1983.
A Marine at the time, Gary MacLeod would vacation with Connie at Kilauea Military Camp, a small military resort inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Whenever an eruption was visible at night, military camp officials would ring a bell to alert guests, hustle them into a bus and drive them to a viewing site in the middle of the night, Gary MacLeod said.