My wife’s brother can see Fissure 8 from his back yard. By happenstance, the area he lives in is elevated, safe, and because of the trade winds, the air is fine. Just a few minutes away and the air gets bad. A single mom with four kids are now living on his land. Their home was destroyed by lava. Acts of generosity like this are happening all over the Big Island now. However, people need help. We’ll be starting a Go Fund Me for the family soon.
There’s only one road left into Lower Puna now. Cracks appeared in the road so they put down massive steel plates. National Guard tells you when to go through and that you need gas masks and don’t slow down. Lower Puna has been evacuated. A new regulation says looters get life sentences. Some areas are completely cut off by lava flows. Tourism is way down. Lots of people are hurting.
Fissure 8 emerges a few miles from Kilauea. The caldera, as you can see from the photo, is already quite tall. This may end up being a new national park.
No one knows when this will end. I’ll post about the GoFundMe once we have it set up.