NEWS RELEASE: Team from HI-EMA, FEMA Will Assess Lava Damage This Week from Mauna Loa Eruption

HONOLULU — A staff of State and federal emergency administration staff will journey to Hawai‘i island this week to examine damages and impacts brought on by the current eruption of Mauna Loa.

The staff of inspectors from the Hawai‘i Emergency Administration Company (HI-EMA) and Federal Emergency Administration Company (FEMA) will study the harm and impression sustained to the Mauna Loa Observatory Street and different infrastructure that have been overrun by lava from the eruption that started on Nov. 27 and continued by Dec. 13.

“The staff shall be working in session with Hawai‘i County personnel who managed the incident and had main duty for shielding the individuals, property, and infrastructure of the Massive Island in the course of the eruption,” mentioned Luke Meyers, HI-EMA administrator.

The county obtained help from the State by deployment of Hawai‘i Nationwide Guard personnel to help with site visitors management and safety within the viewing space close to the freeway, and from HI-EMA staff members aiding with work within the county’s Emergency Operations Middle.

The inspection is a part of a Joint Preliminary Injury Evaluation which shall be used to find out whether or not the prices incurred from damages, impacts, and emergency protecting measures qualify for federal funding help by FEMA.

The evaluation shall be offered to Gov. Josh Inexperienced for evaluation as he decides whether or not to request a federal catastrophe declaration to assist Hawai‘i get better from the eruption’s results. If such a declaration have been to be sought and accredited, a lot of the eligible bills incurred would qualify for federal reimbursement, with native funding decreased to about 25 p.c of the whole.

The eruption was the primary at Mauna Loa in 38 years, the longest pause between eruptions in trendy historical past. The volcano has erupted 34 instances since 1843, for a median of about as soon as each 5 years, however solely 3 times since 1950.

The first lava circulation from the 2022 eruption reached inside 1.7 miles of the Daniel Ok. Inouye Freeway earlier than the molten rock broke out at a better elevation and started to say no in quantity.

As a result of it created fissures alongside the sparsely populated and delicate slopes beneath the Northeast Rift Zone, it posed little menace to life or property. Some earlier eruptions have damaged out alongside the Southwest Rift Zone. In that a part of the island, steep slopes make for sooner lava flows. Mountainside improvement beneath the Southwest Rift additionally has created a larger danger that houses and communities shall be within the lava’s downhill path when a fissure opens there.

January is Volcano Consciousness Month in Hawai‘i; to study extra about volcano hazards and preparedness, see the web site for the US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and Hawai‘i County Civil Protection Company website.

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Contact:

Adam Weintraub
Communication Director
[email protected]
808-620-5417