And Kua O Ka La School has launched a online fundraising to raise money to pay for relocation expenses – with a vow to keep holding classes at alternative locations.

Teachers and children had hoped the lava flow would miss their school.

However, a statement issued by the County of Hawaii said: “Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports that Fissure 8 continues to erupt lava into the perched channel heading northeast from the vent toward Kapoho.

“An overflight this morning has confirned that Ahalanui Park and Kua O Ka La School have been covered by lava. </s> An overflight this morning of the lava flow from fissure 8 on Hawaii island confirmed that the Kua O Ka La Public Charter School and Ahalanui Park have been covered by lava, according to Hawaiian Volcano Observatory officials.

An overflight this morning of the lava flow from fissure 8 on Hawaii island confirmed that the Kua O Ka La Public Charter School and Ahalanui Park have been covered by lava, according to Hawaiian Volcano Observatory officials.

Fissure 8 also continues to pump lava into the perched channel heading northeast from the vent toward Kapoho. Spillovers from the channel and other breakouts are possible on the active flow field, according to the HVO, which warns people to stay away from the active flow field due to “extreme hazard.”

The Disaster Recovery Center is open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekends and is located at the Keaau High School Gym. </s> There is still no end in sight for the Kilauea eruption entering its 10th week as fissure 8 continues pumping lava into a channel leading to the ocean at Kapoho.

There is still no end in sight for the Kilauea eruption entering its 10th week as fissure 8 continues pumping lava into a channel leading to the ocean at Kapoho.

Hawaii County Civil Defense reported early Tuesday morning that the flow had split north and south, and expanded upslope of “Four Corners,” which remains closed, along with Kapoho Beach Lots. Late Tuesday afternoon the lava continued to enter into the channel leading northeast from the vent, while an overflow lobe continued to move around the west side of Kapoho Cone, creating small brush fires along the margins.

Seven hundred homes have been destroyed, according to Janet Snyder, spokeswoman for Hawaii County, which is counting properties where tax records match aerial surveys.

At the shoreline the lava continued to approach Ahalanui Beach Park, also known as the warm ponds, and was about 1,500 feet away from Kua o ka La Public Charter School, which was evacuated in May, according to Snyder.

Susie Osborne, co-founder of the school, is determined to keep it open for about 200 students, and has committed to relocating the classes to Hilo for the next school year, which begins in August.

With access cut off, students at the school had to finish their last 10 days at temporary locations in Hilo in late May. Now, with the lava flow closing in, it is uncertain whether students will ever be able to return to the campus.

A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help the school with its relocation efforts.

The U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, meanwhile, captured footage of lava oozing from a small breakout that is an overflow from the fissure 8 lava channel. The footage is posted to the @USGSVolcanoes Twitter feed.

The Kilauea eruption is also destroying two important populations of Hawaii’s endangered plants — the Nanawale haiwale (Cyrtandra nanawaleensis) and Hilo Ischaemum (Ischaemum byrone) — within the Malama Ki Forest Reserve and surrounding areas, according to state officials.

The 1,514-acre forest reserve and surrounding areas were buried under acres of lava or scorched by fumes of sulphur dioxide in June, killing the two largest known populations of these endangered plants, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources said.

The Nanawale haiwale is a shrub in the African violet family, found only in the lowland wet forests of Puna. Before the eruption only 200 mature plants existed in the wild, representing more than a third of the known existing plants in Hawaii. They were lost to lava flows.

Hilo Ischaemum is a native grass found in coastal areas on several islands but mostly along the coast between Hilo and Puna. An estimated few thousand plants remain in the wild. Several of the known sites between Kapoho and Opihikao are now covered with fresh lava.

As the eruption continues, state Division of Forestry and Wildlife staff are preparing to salvage specimens from other sites to ensure the species is not lost to extinction. The forest reserve was not only home to Hawaii’s native plants, but served as a habitat to subpopulations of native forest birds.

An eruption update meeting was held Tuesday night at the Pahoa High School cafeteria. The Disaster Recovery Center, meanwhile, is open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekends at the Keaau High School gym. </s> After weeks of steadily flowing to the ocean in a self-contained channel, lava from fissure 8 began spilling over into Leilani Estates, destroying more homes in the subdivision, according to Hawaii County officials.

After weeks of steadily flowing to the ocean in a self-contained channel, lava from fissure 8 began spilling over into Leilani Estates, destroying more homes in the subdivision, according to Hawaii County officials.

Hawaii Civil Defense said Wednesday afternoon that three homes were destroyed by breakouts that occurred Wednesday, but the breakouts have since stalled.

The U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported earlier that two of the consumed homes were on Luana Street, while a home on Nohea Street was being threatened.

At least 700 homes across several subdivisions have been destroyed since Kilauea began erupting along the lower East Rift Zone on May 3.

Lava from fissure 8 has been feeding a fast-moving flow heading northeast to the ocean at Kapoho. A flow moving around the west side of Kapoho Cone has proceeded to within a quarter-mile of the coast, HVO said.

Meanwhile, the Disaster Recovery Center is open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekends at the Keaau High School Gym. </s> Aloha, I’m Meteorologist Malika Dudley. We are with Blue Hawaiian Helicopters about to take an overflight of the East Rift Zone (June 11, 2018) with a couple residents who believe their homes have been lost to the lava.

Today we survey their properties for closure and peace of mind, but we start with an update on the status of the Kīlauea eruption.

It is day 40 with still no end in sight. Mayor Harry Kim said 600 to 700 homes have been taken, 410 residents are in shelters. Officials from Hawai‘i County Parks & Recreation are doing what they can to keep spirits high with a car show and Father’s Day event planned for this weekend.

At least one father is mourning the loss of future memories. Neekowee Clearwater was raised in Puna. His childhood home was taken by lava in Kalapana. On May 20, what he hoped would be their forever home, was also taken.

“The place was so perfect to grow up in,” he said. “Me being in a better position than my parents, I was really excited to be able to raise my kid there.”

Big Island girl Kaiulani Leialoha shares those same sentiments. She was raised in Leilani Estates in the home her father built.

“It’s kinda like my whole childhood is wiped out,” she said. “That’s not something I can share with my son later. I can’t take him to those beaches that we went to or even the street that I grew up on. It’s all gone.”

“He got pictures of the lava coming in right at the front gate and right at her mailbox and by that early evening it already went past her lot and it slowly went to her neighbor.”

Fissure 8 now consists of three closely spaced lava fountains. It is the longest producing fissure which continues to feed a channelized flow that reaches the ocean in the Kapoho Bay area.

Where Kapoho Bay once was, there’s a new lava delta now about 200 acres in size. At its widest, the lava channel from Fissure 8 is the length of six olympic sized pools. USGS scientists saying there’s no way of knowing when this eruption will end.

One thing that is certain, this community is resilient. Right now, twenty micro-units homes are going up in Pāhoa with plans for 30 more. Donations are pouring in from around the globe and here at Blue Hawaiian Helicopters every weekend this month they are doing $40 flights with 100% of proceeds Pu’uhonua O Puna. </s> PAHOA, Hawaii (Reuters) - A growing river of molten rock flowing from a fissure at the foot of Kilauea Volcano is believed to have demolished scores of additional homes and filled in a small bay at the eastern tip of Hawaii’s Big Island, civil defense officials said on Tuesday.

The latest estimates — up to 80 more structures than previously counted as destroyed by lava smothering two newly evacuated subdivisions — could bring the total number of homes and other buildings lost over the past month to nearly 200.

Such a tally would put property losses from the current upheaval of Kilauea, which entered its 34th day on Tuesday, on par with 215 structures destroyed by lava during all 35 years of the volcano’s last eruption cycle, which began in 1983.

On Monday, the Hawaii County Civil Defense agency was putting the confirmed number of buildings lost to the current eruption at 117, mostly residential properties. About 80 of those were destroyed in the Leilani Estates community, where lava-spouting fissures in the ground first opened on May 3 downhill from the volcano’s eastern flank.

Another three-dozen homes were confirmed destroyed this past weekend when a large lava stream creeping 6 miles (9.7 km) across the landscape reached the far eastern edge of the Big Island, pouring into the ocean at a place called Kapoho Bay.

On Tuesday, a civil defense official told Reuters that at least 60 to 80 more homes were believed to have been devoured as the lava flow, measuring about a half-mile (80-meter) wide and 10 to 15 feet (3 to 4.6 meter) tall, inundated the adjacent subdivisions of Kapoho Beach Lots and Vacationland.

The official said aerial surveillance of the area showed only the northern portion of Kapoho Beach and the southernmost “sliver” of Vacationland — the latter consisting of only about a half-dozen homes — were left unscathed.

Vivian Mark, a resident of Hilo who owns a beachfront vacation rental in Vacationland and is president of the Vacationland Hawaii Community Association, said Vacationland consisted of 240 housing lots and nearly 90 farm lots, but she was unsure how many of those had properties built on them.

Video footage from a helicopter flying over the area showed two seaside homes engulfed in flames, as clouds of white steam and hydrochloric acid fumes billowed from the water where red-hot lava was pouring into the ocean.

Civil defense officials said Kapoho Bay itself had been filled in with lava that extended seven-tenths of a mile (1.1 km) from what had been the shoreline.

“What used to be the bay is now all lava bed, new land, almost a mile (1.6 km) out into the ocean,” the civil defense spokesman told Reuters.

Authorities began evacuating the greater Kapoho area last week and ushered most of the last remaining residents to safety early on Saturday, hours before the lava flow severed all road access to the region. Several holdouts were airlifted by helicopter on Sunday, leaving no more than a handful of people who refused to leave, officials said.

The lava inundating Kapoho is emanating from Fissure 8, the only volcanic vent that was still belching large volumes of molten rock from the ground as of Tuesday, officials said. </s> A month after lava first began gushing out of cracks near homes on Hawaii's Big Island, the eruption at Kilauea volcano showed no sign of ending Monday with lava burning through residential communities as it flowed toward the ocean.

 On Sunday morning, the lava began destroying homes in the communities of Vacationland and Kapoho Beach Lots. By Wednesday morning, lava had completely covered Vacationland, according to the US Geological Survey. Residents in the area were advised to evacuate last week, since it was clear that the lava would sever a major highway that connects the area to the rest of the island.



Late Sunday night, the lava reached the ocean, flowing into and mostly filling Kapoho Bay. Lava filled it entirely by Wednesday.

Lava from Kilauea burst through the ground on May 3 in the residential neighborhoods of Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens, with fissures spewing lava as high as 200 feet. As the eruption continued, three channels flowed south, where it crossed a major highway and entered the ocean just north of Mackenzie State Park. From the same fissure area, a new channel started to form last week, but it spread in a different direction — flowing east toward Kapoho. Lava follows the topography of the land, usually flowing down the path of least resistance, and now the flow has almost entirely filled a bay of pristine tide pools.

The flow entered the ocean Sunday at Kapoho Bay and adjacent to the Kapoho Tide Pools (also called the Wai'ōpae Tide Pools), which are part of a marine conservation district. The water in Kapoho is particularly unique because of the many anchialine ponds — landlocked water that has a subterranean connection to the ocean — connected to the tide pools. The area is also a marine nursery and is warmed by the volcano, which made it a highly desirable snorkel spot. While most of the bay had been filled with lava by Monday afternoon, the northern part of the bay, referred to as Champagne Pond, was still submerged. The area is named after the bubbly beverage because the volcano's heat creates little bubbles. Hawaii County Civil Defense Administrator Talmadge Magno estimated that there are at least a dozen people who have not evacuated, but that they have no way of communicating with anyone remaining in Kapoho, since phone and power service is no longer working in the isolated area.

 There are now 117 homes that have been verified destroyed by lava, but that figure does not include the new communities, which have not yet been counted. Magno said the lava "doesn’t show any sign of slowing down" and he expected destruction to continue.



A US Geological Survey helicopter rescued three people trapped in the area isolated by lava on Sunday morning, according to scientist Janet Babb. She said the stranded people flagged the helicopter down because they did not have any cell service. The helicopter then dropped off the USGS scientists in a safe spot and returned to rescue the three people. On Saturday night, 393 people stayed at one of the three shelters that have been opened for lava evacuees, which includes people who have now been there for over a month, as well as evacuees from Kapoho Beach Lots and Vacationland.

An eruption in 1960 covered the town originally known as Kapoho, where there were about 100 homes at the time, but since then the area had not seen any lava. Despite being on the east flank of the volcano, Kapoho was rebuilt as a gated community with its swimmable coastline. At least 1,000 people live there, although many of the oceanfront homes are multimillion-dollar vacation retreats.
• Michelle Broder Van Dyke is a breaking news reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Honolulu. Got a confidential tip? Submit it here. </s> HILO — Vacationland is gone.

That was the message Wednesday morning from Janet Snyder, spokeswoman for Mayor Harry Kim. She said that lava from Kilauea volcano had completely covered the subdivision in Kapoho and at last report, just a small portion of Kapoho Beach Lots remained. Lava continues to pour into the ocean, enlarging the delta at the former Kapoho Bay site.

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Snyder said the official tally of homes last is at 130, but noted that does not count the homes lost at Kapoho, since those have to be verified by drone overflight and comparison with tax department maps, and that hundreds more still need to be counted.

Snyder quoted Kim, who had a second home in Vacationland, as saying, “Hundreds of homes and a lifestyle is gone.”

Fissure no. 8 is the only one currently active, but walls of a perched pond from the fissure are expected to break and send more lava oozing toward the ocean.

According to Snyder, a number of drone operators have been cited for violating the temporary flight restriction area over lava flows.

Snyder also noted that Gov. David Ige’s second emergency proclamation, which eased permitting regulations to help with the building of temporary housing for lava evacuees, also made it a full misdemeanor to interfere with emergency personnel of any type, not just law enforcement authorities.

Ige is coming to Hilo Thursday to meet with Kim, Snyder said, and the main focus will be on fast-tracking temporary housing.

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According to Snyder, Kim said, “Things that took weeks and months to get done in the past has now taken days.”

Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com </s> LEILANI ESTATES, Hawaii -- On Hawaii's Big Island, about a dozen people who ignored evacuation orders, are now surrounded by flowing lava. Their only way out will be by helicopter. A huge lava front is consuming everything in its path. Massive amounts of molten rock -- an unstoppable force of nature."

In the community of Kapoho, authorities had been anticipating that the lava would get there for days.

Helicopter pilot Colin Burkardt has watched it all unfold since the eruption began a month ago.

"This could be an inevitable lava flow. It could end up being a new eruption site, it may never go back to crater, it may never shift back up the rift zone," Burkardt said.
• None Hawaii officials go door to door to get holdouts to flee fast lava 



Now, homes and businesses are gone, and anything that survives here will be cut off from the rest of the island.

Residents packed up what they could before the lava arrived.

The area is known as four corners because it's the intersection of two major highways. Lava has covered it all. There is nothing left ... and with it, the two major escape routes for people in this community.

On the ground in Leilani Estates, lava is still taking out homes.

When one home caught fire, a sheriff's deputy -- on vacation from Virginia and curious about the lava -- just happened to be there.

"So I went around the side, banged on the door a couple of times, announced sheriff's department, and then I breached the door," Jason Patch said.

Smoke filled the home but no one was there. Patch, helplessly, watched it burn.

"It was bad knowing you can't do anything about it," Patch said

From the air, Leilani Estates has changed dramatically over the last four weeks. Where there were once homes and a thriving community, there are now just rivers of lava with no end in sight. The landscape here has changed permanently.
Ahalanui Park and Kua O Ka La School are overtaken by lava.