Kilauea volcano threatens homes in Hawaii

IT’S the world’s slowest moving natural disaster, with hot lava moving only 250m each day. But when it hits, the results are terrifying.

IT’S a slow motion disaster that has been frustrating locals, creeping towards their homes for months.

Now, a river of scorching hot black lava is within metres of property on Hawaii’s Big Island, and you don’t want to be near when it hits.

The lava crackled and smoked as it advanced toward the two-storey structure in Pahoa Village, smothering an expanse of vegetation.

Residents of the small town have had weeks to prepare. Most have either already left or are prepared to go when necessary.

The lava flow is threatening homes in Hawaii in what has been described as a disaster in slow motion. Picture: US Geological Survey / AP

County officials are making arrangements for those living in the lava’s path to be able to watch the lava destroy their homes as a means of closure.

“You can only imagine the frustration as well as ... despair they’re going through,” Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Darryl Oliveira said.

The lava was about 64 meters from a home Monday evening, officials said. County officials have warned those with respiratory problems to stay indoors because of the smoke.

Laval flows from Kilauea volcano towards a village in Hawaii.

Over the weekend, the lava crossed a road in Pahoa Village, considered a main town in the island’s rural Puna district. It was getting dangerously close to Pahoa Village Road, which goes straight through downtown.

The flow advanced about 250 meters from Sunday morning to Monday morning, moving northeast at about 10 to 15 meters per hour. At other times, the lava slowed to about 2 meters per hour or sped up to about 20 meters per hour, depending on topography, said Janet Babb, a spokeswoman for the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Residents at Pahoa have been told to get ready to leave.

The smoking lava field has been moving at around 10 metres an hour.

Scientists began warning the public about the lava on August 22. At the time, residents were cleaning up from a tropical storm that made landfall over the Puna district, toppling trees and knocking out electricity.

No one knows if the lava flow will stop, change direction or hit homes.

In the 1990s, about 200 homes were destroyed by lava flows from Kilauea.

The last evacuations from the volcano came in 2011. One home was destroyed and others were threatened before the lava changed course.

Trees are left scorched and burnt by the lava flow.