The people living in Puna and Hawai’i County understand the risk. Knowing they aren’t in control and can’t stop nature from happening is the first step to becoming resilient in the face of future volcanic eruptions on the Big Island.
Five years after the lava from the 2018 Kīlauea eruption destroyed 32.3 miles of roads, most have not been repaired. But there is hope, with federal funds ready for restoring public roads and grant money going to nonprofits to help restore private roads.
‘We have an eruption,” announced Ikaika Marzo on Facebook Live late in the day of May 3, 2018, as he stood on Mohala Street in Leilani Estates, where the first of 24 fissures began spewing molten lava during the historic 2018 Kilauea eruption in Lower Puna.