Hawaii town merchant: Lava is slow-motion disaster

This Sept. 8, 2014 photo shows downtown Pahoa, Hawaii. Surf shop co-owner Tiffany Edwards Hunt said there’s a threat Pahoa could become a ghost town if lava from Kilauea volcano crosses roads connecting the village with the rest of the Big Island. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy) This Sept. 8, 2014 photo shows downtown Pahoa, Hawaii. Surf shop co-owner Tiffany Edwards Hunt said there’s a threat Pahoa could become a ghost town if lava from Kilauea volcano crosses roads connecting the village with the rest of the Big Island. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)

By Associated Press September 11, 2014 3 min read

PAHOA, Hawaii (AP) – Businesses in a small Hawaii town are facing a slow-motion disaster as lava from Kilauea volcano oozes toward roads connecting them to the rest of the Big Island.

Tiffany Edwards Hunt, who owns a surf shop with her husband, said the lava could hit buildings while smoke from fires sparked by the lava cold damage merchandise. If lava crosses the highway leading into town, it could cut the town off.

“There is the threat of his very historic, very quaint, eclectic village becoming a ghost town because of the isolation,” Hunt said after a meeting between merchants and county civil defense authorities.

Kilauea has been erupting continuously since 1983. Scientists issued a warning last week when a lava flow that has been advancing through cracks in the earth for the past few months moved to within a mile of a rural subdivision.

The flow since has slowed, but the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said it could reach the northwest edge of Kaohe Homesteads in a day-and-a-half. The county hasn’t ordered any evacuations, however.