Kilauea’s Fiery Fury: People Pressed Back In to Grab Their Stuff
*On May 8, just a day after a brutal spike in volcanic activity, Hawai‘i residents braved clouds of sulphur and cracked streets to make what might be their last dash home before Kilauea threatened to {@b wreak havoc} again. The volcano, already mangled 35 houses, forced roughly 1,700 people in Leilani Estates to flee. Yet when the blasts paused,* some brave souls chose to run back for their pets and the things that mattered most.
“One More Grab” — A Veteran’s Voice
- Delance Weigel, 71, U.S. Army veteran said, “I thought I’d try one more time to get my things out.”
- He packed away treasures “shortly after 7 am” as steam and sulfur dioxide rushed from fissures.
- “If we lose our home or not, we’ll see. But we’re definitely going to be cut off,” he added. “You move to paradise, then this happens.”
What’s Going On Below?
Kilauea, erupting since 1983, has been fuming for five days. Last Thursday, it sputtered 90‑meter‑high lava columns that spewed lethal gases, and since then it’s put out 12 new vents. The magma still churns beneath the earth, with seismic activity on the rise.
Evacuations Keep Expanding
- Leilani Estates, with 4 km of fissures at the ocean edge, saw most of the 1,700 evacuees.
- Lanipuna Gardens was left for toxic gases.
- Nearby areas risk danger as fissure “fingers” creep eastward.
- “If things get dicey, you’ve got to get out,” Talmadge Magno, Civil Defence Administrator, told a Monday meeting.
Earthquakes and Eruptions Ahead?
A stray 6.9‑magnitude quake struck Friday on the volcano’s south flank – the strongest since 1975 – and scientists warn that more quakes and eruptions could loom for months. “This pause is likely temporary,” the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory noted. “Lava emission or new fissures can resume at any time.”
Personal Stories
- Heidi Austin, 77, left her home west of the eruption zone after cracks appeared at her driveway. She recalled an eruption “like a huge blowtorch going off,” turning her into a “frenzy” of worry.
Times on the Big Island are a mix of thrill and terror: though it boasts a 10,430‑square‑km landmass, it makes up less than a fifth of state tourism. In the first quarter of 2018, 16 % of the $4.81 billion visitor spend came from here—under half the amount seen on Oahu and Maui.
