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Fissure 8 today, still fountaining 200 ft. Courtesy USGS.
Was radio backup for a convoy of hams & 9 trucks evacuating people & stuff from Kapoho area. Civil Defense says be out NOW. Lava may cut off beach road escape route any hour now. Watching this flow carefully as it is ‘balanced’ on the top of the ridge and could break out to the north side toward me. Lower Puna is being shredded to ribbons by multiple flows down the south side of the ridge. Pohoiki harbor will be isolated, as will Kapoho.
The real disaster story is the homeless refugees coming out of the area… some 2500 more from the Kapoho area, on top of the earlier 2000 from Leilani Estates. These are all people looking for a new home who have lost everything. There are not enough homes available to house the displaced people. County, Red Cross, and Salvation Army are running large shelters in the area, but this is a temporary solution. People need long-term housing.