HONOLULU (AP) – Patricia Deter moved from Oregon to Hawaii to be closer to her two daughters, but the Kilauea volcano burned down her home only a month after she bought it.
Now Deter and others who have recently lost homes to the lava-spewing mountain are on an urgent quest for answers about insurance, desperate to learn whether their coverage will offer any help after molten rock wiped out most of what they owned.
The eruption has destroyed about two dozen homes in the Leilani Estates subdivision on the Big Island.
Authorities on Tuesday reported a new fissure opened in the adjoining Lanipuna Gardens subdivision, bringing the number of cracks in the ground spitting out lava and toxic gas to nearly 20 since the eruption began May 3. Another fissure that opened up last weekend was sending molten rock crawling toward the ocean at about 20 yards (18 meters) per hour. An ash plume from within Kilauea volcano’s summit crater rose as high as 12,000 feet (3,658 meters) above sea level, prompting geologists to issue a “red” warning for pilots and air traffic controllers as the ash could disrupt flights.
Few insurance companies will issue policies for homes in Leilani Estates because it is in an area deemed by the U.S. Geological Survey to have a high risk of lava.