Life in Paradise ain't what it's cracked up to be

[voyager]

I'm told some of you folks are wondering about what's going on here.

We never evacuated.
We've almost got the whole subdivision to ourselves.

The lava never came any closer to us than about a mile.
We've not been under any direct threat except for a day or two when the air went stagnant and the SO2 levels near us went quite high.
Normally, we keep all doors open on the house to allow air to move through.
Closing up the house seemed to give us protection from the SO2 build up.

Our subdivision seems to have quieted down.
The activity has moved on past us, for now.
That does not mean that it couldn't come back.
This morning I woke up to the sounds of distant explosions from further up the rift at what is now fissure #18 where the activity is now.

I've been watching a live feed of what's happening on Honolulu Civil Beat's Facebook page.
Not much to see except steam and smoke with occasional lava spattering into the air.
But, if anything of interest happens, we'll know right away.

A few people will not be back.
They swear they have had enough even though thay have not lost anything to the lava.
The threat is more than they can handle.

We chose to buy here with our eyes wide open.
WE knew this was a possibility even though we thought it was not likely to happen within out lifetime.
Only a slight miscalculation.

Property values in the area are nonexistent right now, and will take a while to come back.
But, we are not interested in trying to sell.
We still plan to stay.
In 6 months non residents will begin snapping property up because of the phenomenally low land prices.
The cycle will begin again.

Oh, yeah, the orchids are doing well so far.
Some are in bloom.
The SO2 doesn't seem to have done them any harm, yet.
The cats are OK if not a bit nervous and demanding a lot of attention.

I've just changed the live feed I'm watching.
Now it's Db Photo at Primary Focus's facebook page.

This is probably the most covered event in history.
Everybody is shooting video of the action.
The official outlets are too slow in disseminating information.
By the time they put out information things have moved on to something else.

I could go on forever.
But, that's enough.
All is well so far.
And , life is still interesting.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Stay safe, keep a weather eye out, and if things take a turn for the worse, pack up family first, animals a close second, and leave until there is an all clear.

Good luck

[Dollythehun]

Been praying for you, Mike! Your Paradise is getting paved over fast, it seems. Thanks for the update.

[Leafmite]

Good luck! I am glad that all is well.

[AnonYMouse]

Stay safe!

[estación seca]

Good luck and best wishes.

[voyager]

Thanks folks for the well wishes.
It has been a noisy day.
Been hearing the booming of the activity at fissure 17 all day.
I had called it 18 earlier.
They changed the name because what was 17 did not do more than emit steam.
The only real noise made as it passed thru Leilani was like a military airfield scrambling jets as the gasses escaped while spattering lava.
This now sounds as if there is a war going on except there's no small arms fire, just bombing and artillery.
I'm finding that it bothers me more than when it was at our doorstep.
Part of it may be that it has been going on for 10 days now, with no end in sight.

USGS HVO's map from this morning's update is here:

https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/observato.../image-421.jpg

One has to remember that every square inch of these islands was a lava flow at one time or another, or they wouldn't be here.
Big Island is the youngest, most active, and still growing.

[voyager]

It has been an eventful time since my last post.
The main activity has moved on past Leilani Estates into a lower elevation area that is mostly an ag area where papayas, noni and other things are grown.
There are still sporadic outbreaks happening here in the subdivision.

The nature of the lava has changed.
Instead of being an older more viscus type that spatters and forms slow moving a'a flows, the outbreaks are now hotter, more liquid, forming fountains and faster moving pahoe'hoe flows.
A few people became surrounded yesterday and needed to be evacuated by helo.

The older magma, that has now been pushed out and replaced by the newer magma, had a higher gas content.
Just before the new lava began emerging, the Trade Winds failed, the air went stagnant, and the concentration of SO2 and other gasses given off skyrocketed up. It looked like a London Fog around our place for 2 to 3 days.
If it had been necessary to be out in it with no shelter, it could have been fatal.
When I found it necessary to go outside for just a few minutes, I became nauseated.
It would slowly get better after returning inside for a period.

I Jerry-rigged an SO2 scrubber in the house to hold the SO2 inside down.
It seemed to work.
We could not smell it in the house.
After one night out, our outdoor cats decided they wanted to be indoor cats.

The Trades have started up again and the air has cleared up.
After seeing all the dead and dying vegetation around the fissures and flows, I've been watching things around our yard.
leaves have been droping off thin leaved plants, trees and everything on down in size.
Many of my thin leaved orchids, Oncidiums, Spathoglotis',Cymbidiums, Neobenthamia, Miltoniopsis', Dendrochillums, and others are showing signs of being burnt by the acidic SO2 deposited on their leaves.
Hopefully they'll recover.

Right now, it looks as if the worst has passed us by.
That can change very quickly.

EDIT:
I have been collecting aerial videos made by a Mick Kalber and Paradise Helicopters covering the entire event on a daily basis.
They are very well done and show what has been going on.
I have them embedded in my online galley.
I am adding the newer ones as they're published.
For those interested, they are here:
Hawai'i / Lava News and Pics / Helicopter Overflights of Eruptions | Mike's Photo Gallery

[estación seca]

Thank you for the update. Hope you and yours remain safe.

[voyager]

Thanks, we are definitely trying to be safe while staying here.

I've added an aerial photo of the area with our place marked to show our relationship to the eruptions.
it is the first entry in the overflight video album.