Hawaii activates National Guard as Mauna Loa's unpredictable lava flow creeps toward critical highway - CNN

CNN  — 

The relentless eruption of the world’s largest progressive volcano has prompted Hawaii’s National Guard to measurement successful arsenic residents and tourists flock to spot it.

For 10 days, Mauna Loa has been shooting jets of lava toward the entity and down the monolithic mountain. While officials accidental there’s inactive nary contiguous hazard to communities connected Hawaii’s Big Island, lava has present crept wrong 2 miles of the main road connecting the eastbound and occidental halves of the Big Island.

In pictures: Mauna Loa volcano erupts successful Hawaii

“The starring borderline of the lava travel continues to person minimal question … and is astir 2 miles from Daniel K. Inouye highway,” the County of Hawaii’s hazards website said Tuesday morning. “It does not airs a menace to immoderate communities astatine this time.”

Mauna Loa began erupting November 27, astir 21 miles from wherever Kilauea has been erupting since past year. As residents and tourists unreserved to witnesser and grant the uncommon dual eruptions, officials person enlisted the assistance of the National Guard.

“Gov. David Ige and Maj. General Kenneth Hara activated 20 Hawai’i National Guard work members connected Monday and placed them connected progressive work to assistance Hawai’i County with postulation power and different roles successful the Mauna Loa eruption,” Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency said Monday.

Officials besides created a harmless viewing spot connected a one-way way accessible done the Daniel K. Inouye Highway, the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency said.

The lava flow’s gait isn’t steady, truthful it’s challenging to foretell precisely erstwhile lava mightiness deed the large highway, besides known arsenic Saddle Road.

“There are galore variables astatine play and some the absorption and timing of travel advances are expected to alteration implicit periods of hours to days, making it hard to estimation erstwhile oregon if the travel volition interaction Daniel K. Inouye Highway,” the US Geological Survey said.

The past clip Mauna Loa erupted was successful 1984, erstwhile its lava reached astir 4.5 miles from Hilo, the largest colonisation halfway connected the Big Island.

If oregon erstwhile lava from the existent eruption reaches the captious road mostly depends connected however agelong Mauna Loa erupts, a volcano adept said.

“We don’t cognize however agelong this eruption is going to last, and that volition dictate whether oregon not the road becomes much threatened,” said Natalia Deligne, a volcanologist with the US Geological Survey astatine the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Mauna Loa and Kilauea are successful Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which remains unfastened arsenic it urges spectators to presumption the dual eruptions safely.

“Stepping into week 2 of the Mauna Loa eruption,” the parkland posted Monday connected Facebook. “Two volcanoes, 2 eruptions, 1 park. It was different ‘glowrious’ greeting today!”

While immoderate spot the Big Island’s eruptions arsenic a threat, for galore Native Hawaiians, the eruptions person unthinkable spiritual significance.

Ku’ulei Vickery, a Native Hawaiian and a teacher astatine a adjacent nationalist school, was among those who witnessed the glowing orangish molten stone travel Friday. She performed a accepted Hawaiian chant and near rosemary grown successful her backyard arsenic an offering.

“As a native, I’m acknowledging the abstraction that I americium in. I’m acknowledging the goddess Pele, and the radical who person travel earlier me, my ancestors,” she said. “You don’t spell to anyone’s location empty-handed. So this is what I brought.”

Officials urged anyone who wants to ticker the dual eruptions to beryllium alert of the imaginable wellness hazards successful the air.

Volcanic emissions see sulfur dioxide, which reacts with different elements successful the ambiance and tin statesman to signifier good particles which origin vog, a benignant of volcanic air contamination known arsenic volcanic smog.

“Vog creates the imaginable for airborne wellness hazards to residents and visitors, damages cultivation crops and different plants, and affects livestock operations,” the USGS said.

The National Park Service says susceptible groups, typically including the aged and children, to beryllium cautious erstwhile viewing the dual eruptions.

“People with pre-existing respiratory conditions are particularly delicate to mediocre aerial prime and should cheque the air prime alert earlier visiting,” the parkland work said.