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Lava Flow In Hawaii Gains Speed, Triggers Methane Explosions
An anonymous reader writes Officials say molten lava from a Hawaii volcano has been flowing steadily in an area where residents have been warned they might have to evacuate their homes. Dozens of residents in the flow path have been told to complete all necessary preparations by Tuesday for a possible evacuation. From the article: "Janet Babb, a geologist and spokeswoman for the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, said methane explosions also have been going off. She said decomposing vegetation produces methane gas that can travel subsurface beyond the lava front in different directions, accumulating in pockets that can ignite. She said it was a bit unnerving to hear all the blasts on Saturday."
Xenu just needs to drop some H-bombs in there and shut that joker down.
Pele's doing just fine, thankyouvermuch.
Her neighbors are currently having a bit of a hard time, though.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
"Dozens of residents in the flow path have been told to complete all necessary preparations by Tuesday for a possible evacuation. The timeline could change, based on the flow rate."
That's a big hand!!!!!
Source
Lava refers to either molten rock...or....molten rock that has flowed, cooled and solidified. "Lava beds" are large areas of once-molten rock that are solidified.
You'd care if it was in your neighborhood and your insurance company won't cover your house.
SRSLY? You bought a house in [redacted] Hawaii and didn't get volcano insurance?
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How can we have a story about lava without pictures? I'm not sure how this is supposed to scare me :)
The La Traviata is my favorite italian restaurant.
All the Hawaii PR department has to do is rebrand now. "Come see a real, genuine flaming hellscape. Don't settle for those fake Hollywood post-apocalyptic disaster landscapes. Come see the real thing!"
If I lived in an area susceptible to volcanic activity, I'd have a plan in place to bug out in the event of an event. Compared to most natural disasters lava moves slowly and for the most part, scientists are able to accurately predict eruption risk ahead of time. I wouldn't wait until told to leave.
I live in an area with a wildfire risk, and in fact last summer this area lost over 500 homes to the, "Black Forest Fire". My place was evacuated but didn't suffer any loss. Wildfires move quite a bit faster than a lava flow.
Why not just link directly to the USGS Hawaii Volcano Observatory website? http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/multimedia/index.php?newSearch=true&display=custom&volcano=1&resultsPerPage=20
http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/multimedia/index.php?newSearch=true&display=custom&volcano=1&resultsPerPage=20
I'm surprised the original post links to a news story from a Seattle newspaper instead of the actual USGS website.
I think you're probably right, which helps with the disaster preparedness crowd. "Nope, less than a handful. That's zero beds we need set up somewhere. I really hope our estimate isn't too low."
Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
I used to wear Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars.
Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
I care and I don't even have an uninsured house ... though to be fair my uncle and aunt do :-( Pahoa is so remote you can't even get cellphone coverage there, but it's a beautiful area (it's on the island's rainy side so everything is lush and green). Houses cost in the 100-200k range, and while that is pretty cheap it still sucks to see it all melt away.
Pahoa is Native town... these people don't have the kind of money that most Hawaii immigrants do, nor the financial ability to move elsewhere on their island.
What are they feeding the volcano?
"We said VIRGINS, not VEGANS."
If you were me, you'd be good lookin'. - six string samurai
Colloquially, when we talk about a "handful" of things that can't actually be carried in a hand, we're talking about five or fewer things (the number of things we can count with the fingers of one hand).
"I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
people living next to an active volcano have to evacuate here and there... would have never guessed that.
lol um reread the quote I used, it is pretty clear the "less than a handful" is not potential evacuees, but the subset of them who have indicated that they do not already have accommodations to evacuate too.
Kind of like, if my area of town was evacuated, I would head over to the house of a friend or relative nearby, or if the need arose, to family a few hours away. There are very few scenarios where I would actually need to find shelter for longer than it would take for me to make arrangements for my physical travel.
OTOH I know people who don't have nearby family and whose friends would likely mostly be in the same boat as them.
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
You know, there was a recent book by John Ringo that blamed the noise of weapons being discharged while fighting an incursion of Old Ones on methane gas explosions. You don't suppose... ?
Most insurers won't write volcano and earthquake damage policies on some districts on the Big Island, Puna being one of them. So if Pele comes for your house, you're out of luck. And not only that - once your property is covered with lava you no longer own it - the title reverts back to the State. Not that anyone really cares that much - it's very difficult to rebuild on thick sheet of solid rock and the people who live in those areas usually have few resources anyway.
It's not THAT remote (my cellphone worked as of end of last year there). We tourists tend to pass through Pahoa on the way down for the tours hiking across the lava fields or taking the boats out to the old lava egress points on the ocean. Need highway 130 for that...should this lava bisect the town, it is going to hurt the volcano tourism industry significantly Pahoa also is the last place for a pitstop or some food on the way south too.
Now who's laughing?
Next to my desk we have an Ire Extinguisher. Our boss is really assertive, so we like the idea of having it.
What percent of the US's population do you think is in the risk of a major natural disaster of some kind - volcano, flood, hurricane, tornado, earthquake, landslide, avalanche, etc? This time the dice got rolled and it was their homes that came up snake eyes. It should be noted that the town was built before Pu'u 'O'o became a "thing". There were no signs back then that Pu'u 'O'o was even likely to become an active vent, let alone one that would erupt for over three decades.
Next to my desk we have an Ire Extinguisher. Our boss is really assertive, so we like the idea of having it.
I care and I don't even have an uninsured house ... though to be fair my uncle and aunt do :-( ...
do you think it is too late to call up the insurance rep for a policy?
And assault lava.
My wife was out there Saturday night as a county volunteer with a pass to go into the restricted area. Her group walked right up to the flow on Ala'lli next to the transfer station (she's got some amazing videos on her phone, I'll ask her to upload them to Youtube later).
She was the first to smell a sudden burst of methane, mentioning it the leader of the group, he shouted "we need to get out of here, now!" An explosion followed mere seconds after they has cleared.
I cannot tell you how shaken I was to hear that story when she got home.
I bet you could buy a policy through some website that has automated approval. Hopefully those insurance companies have some brains at some point too.
So says the guy in San Francisco waiting for an earthquake, the midwest waiting for a tornado, or even as far north as New York waiting for a hurricane?
I'm pretty sure that means that's what left of them after they have been ashed by the volcano will easily fit in one hand...
In most parts of the world, having a local volcano erupting is a major problem. In Hawaii, most of the eruptions are either confined to the volcano's crater or the upper slopes, meaning that most of the time it's just an unexpected tourist attraction. (I remember being at Pearl Harbor in '72; there was an eruption of Mauna Loa that caused a bright yellow fountain that could be seen at night from Honolulu, but all it resulted in was a dome inside the crater. Having a lava flow go far enough to threaten homes is quite rare now, and that very rarity is what makes it news. Yes, Ebola is frightening, and potentially more dangerous, but that doesn't make it what's happening in Hawaii less newsworthy.
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Someone, please produce a remix of this. The Technology Chronicles - 'Pilotless drone’ caller: No apology By Ben Pimentel on February 20, 2007 10:10 AM http://blog.sfgate.com/techchr... Pilotless Droneplane? https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
you should go see The La Brea Tar Pit