Hawaii braces for long upheaval as erupting Kilauea boils

Hundreds of anxious residents on the Big Island of Hawaii hunkered down Saturday for what could be weeks or months of upheaval as the dangers from an erupting Kilauea volcano continued to grow.

In this image released by the U.S. Geological Survey, steam rises from cracks in the road shortly before a fissure opened up on Kaupili Street in the Leilani Estates subdivision, Friday, May 4, 2018, in Pahoa, Hawaii. (U.S. Geological Survey via AP)

Lava spurted from volcanic vents, toxic gas filled the air and strong earthquakes — including a magnitude 6.9 temblor on Friday — rocked an already jittery population. The trifecta of natural threats forced the evacuation of more than 1,700 people from communities near the lava and prompted the closure of parks, college campuses and a section of the main road through the area on the Big Island's southern tip.

Kilauea volcano erupts, Friday, May 4, 2018, in Kalapana, HI. There are no immediate reports of major damage after a large earthquake struck Hawaii's Big Island near a volcanic eruption that has forced residents to evacuate from their homes. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

Residents from the lava affected areas of the Big Island hold a prayer before the start of a community meeting with local authorities at Pahoa High School, Friday, May 4, 2018, in Pahoa, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

This Friday, May 4, 2018, aerial image released by the U.S. Geological Survey, at 12:46 p.m. HST, a column of robust, reddish-brown ash plume occurred after a magnitude 6.9 South Flank of Kīlauea earthquake shook the Big Island of Hawaii, Hawaii. (U.S. Geological Survey via AP)

Five structures have burned and thousands of customers briefly lost power from one of the larger quakes.

Tesha "Mirah" Montoya, 45, said toxic fumes escaping from the lava vents weren't enough to make her family evacuate, but the tipping point was the earthquakes.

Resident Sam Knox, 65, rides his bicycle to the edge of the road as lava burns across the road in the Leilani Estates in Pahoa, Hawaii, Saturday, May 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

This Saturday, May 5, 2018, web image is from a temporary research camera positioned on the Puʻu ʻŌʻō Crater from the North Rim looking into the crater. This image is from a temporary research camera positioned on the north rim of Puʻu ʻŌʻō, looking into the crater. The current crater is about 250 m (~275 yds) across. (U.S. Geological Survey via AP)

"I felt like the whole side of our hill was going to explode," she said. "The earthquake was what made us start running and start throwing guinea pigs and bunnies in the car."

Montoya, her husband and daughter don't know how long they will be away from the three-story octagonal house they built nearly 20 years ago from a patch of "raw jungle."

Lava burns across the road in the Leilani Estates in Pahoa, Hawaii, Saturday, May 5, 2018. Hundreds of anxious residents on the Big Island of Hawaii hunkered down Saturday for what could be weeks or months of upheaval as the dangers from an erupting Kilauea volcano continued to grow. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

Lava from the Kilauea volcano moves across the road in the Leilani Estates in Pahoa, Hawaii, Saturday, May 5, 2018. Hundreds of anxious residents on the Big Island of Hawaii hunkered down Saturday for what could be weeks or months of upheaval as the dangers from an erupting Kilauea volcano continued to grow. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

Fallen cable lines are seen on the road as lava burns in Leilani Estates in Pahoa, Hawaii, Saturday, May 5, 2018. Hundreds of anxious residents on the Big Island of Hawaii hunkered down Saturday for what could be weeks or months of upheaval as the dangers from an erupting Kilauea volcano continued to grow. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

"My heart and soul are there," she said in a phone interview from a cabin on the north side of the Big Island, where the family had hunkered down. "I'm nothing without the land. It's part of my being."

Tina Neal, the scientist in charge of the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, warned distressed residents at a community meeting late Friday that eruptions could last longer than the ones from earlier this week, and earthquakes and aftershocks could continue for days, even weeks.

Fumes coming out of cracks on the asphalt road near the Leilani Estates in Pahoa, Hawaii, Saturday, May 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

Burned out vegetation is seen on the side of the road in Leilani Estates in Pahoa, Hawaii, Saturday, May 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

Gary McMillan said his home is about 3,000 feet (914 meters) from one of the fissures that are spewing lava and gas into Leilani Estates. He has remote cameras set up in his home and says that as of now his home is still intact.

In this Saturday, May 5, 2018, photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey, lava from Fissure 7 slowly advances to the northeast on Hookapu Street in the Leilani Estates subdivision in Pahoa, Hawaii. (U.S. Geological Survey via AP)

A man films the lava in the Leilani Estates subdivision, Saturday, May 5, 2018, in Pahoa, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

Volcanic gas streams out of a vent around a sign in the Leilani Estates, Saturday, May 5, 2018, in Pahoa, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

He's living out of his van with his wife at the nearby community center and constantly thinks about the things they were forced to leave behind — but understands why authorities are keeping residents out.

"I was a critical care nurse for 37 years, so I understand the health implications and the dangers involved," McMillan said.

A power line and transformer lay on top of a lava flow in the Leilani Estates, Saturday, May 5, 2018, in Pahoa, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

The lava lake at Kilauea's summit crater dropped significantly, suggesting the magma was moving eastward toward Puna, a mostly rural district of forests, papaya farms and lava fields left by past eruptions.

Officials warned of the dangers of spattering hot rock and high levels of sulfuric gas that could threaten the elderly and people with breathing problems.

Lava creeps across the road in the Leilani Estates, Saturday, May 5, 2018, in Pahoa, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

By Saturday afternoon, eight vents that had spurting lava into the air in Leilani Estates quieted down and were releasing only steam and gas. But scientists warned more vents would likely form and disgorge more lava.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park evacuated all visitors and non-emergency staff. The quakes triggered rock slides on park trails and crater walls. Narrow fissures appeared on the ground at a building overlooking the crater at Kilauea's summit.

A mailbox stands near the lava flow in the Leilani Estates, Saturday, May 5, 2018, in Pahoa, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

The University of Hawaii at Hilo and Hawaii Community College both closed campuses and a long stretch of Highway 130, one of the main arteries through Puna, was closed because of the threat of sulfuric gas.

Leilani Estates, where lava was pushing through cracks in the earth, has about 1,700 residents and 770 homes. A nearby neighborhood, Lanipuna Gardens, which has a few dozen people, also was evacuated.

Lava approaches a city bus stop at the Leilani Estates, Saturday, May 5, 2018, in Pahoa, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

Kilauea has been continuously erupting since 1983 and is one of five volcanoes that make up the Big Island. Activity picked up earlier this week, indicating a possible new lava outbreak.

The crater floor began to collapse Monday, triggering earthquakes and pushing the lava into new underground chambers. The collapse caused magma to push more than 10 miles (16 kilometers) downslope toward the populated southeast coastline.

Residents have faced lava threats before.

A tin roof lies atop the lava flow in the Leilani Estates subdivision, Saturday, May 5, 2018, in Pahoa, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

In 2014, lava burned a house and destroyed a cemetery near the town of Pahoa. Residents were worried it would cover the town's main road and cut off the community from the rest of the island, but the molten rock stalled.

From 1990 through 1991, lava slowly overtook the town of Kalapana, burning homes and covering roads and gardens.

Large cracks from an earthquake are seen in a road in the Leilani Estates subdivision, Saturday, May 5, 2018, in Pahoa, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

Kilauea hasn't been the kind of volcano that shoots lava from its summit into the sky, causing widespread destruction. It tends to ooze lava from fissures in its sides, which often gives residents at least a few hours' warning before it reaches their property.

In the uncertainty, however, some residents found comfort in the abiding beauty of the Big Island. Evacuees Todd Corrigan and his wife awoke to a beautiful sunrise Saturday in Puna after spending the night in their car at the shore.

"Paradise isn't always perfect," he said, "but it's still beautiful."

WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP) — Nine months after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century struck Maui, Mayor Richard Bissen says the county will hire an outside expert to assess how its emergency management agency performed during the disaster.

The Aug. 8 wildfire killed 101 people and destroyed much of the historic town of Lahaina.

Maui’s police and fire departments have already conducted after-action reports. Bissen said in a statement Wednesday that the county is inviting proposals from “qualified experts” to evaluate the performance of the emergency management agency to better prepare for future responses.

The agency isn't able to perform its own “after-action report” because of staffing shortages, the county said in response to an AP email Thursday seeking details on the request.

The fire department's report was put together by the Western Fire Chiefs Association, the county noted, while the police evaluation was conducted internally.

Many of the recommendations in the police preliminary after-action report released in February call for better equipment and updates to technology — from getting officers earpieces they can use when high winds make it hard to hear their radios to equipping patrol cars with breaching kits to remove downed trees or utility poles from roadways.

The fire department report released last month identifies challenges firefighters faced, including poorly stocked fire engines, a lack of mutual aid agreements between Hawaii counties and limited equipment.

FILE - Maui Country Mayor Richard Bissen speaks as Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, President Joe Biden, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green and his wife, Jaimie, listen after Biden toured areas devastated by the Maui wildfires, Aug. 21, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. Nine months after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century struck, Bissen says the county will hire an outside expert to assess how its emergency management agency performed during the disaster. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)