BigIslandCruiser

Kilauea is a shield volcano. They are not explosive like Mount Saint Helens. Kilauea is one of 5 volcanoes on the island and the area being affected makes up 5% of the Island of Hawaii. Living 8 miles from the current flows the air quality is fine. Hilo is 20 miles away.

Our volcano has been erupting for over 30 years it just changed location further down the east rift zone and they have closed off the areas they consider unsafe including the Volcano Park. The rest of the island is fine. When that gets out eventually life will return to normal. Normal here is living with an active volcano. If one is afraid of active volcanoes then they should not visit the Big Island.

I think it is the captains that are fearful which is to bad. It is safer to visit the Big Island than to be in high school if you have seen the news. No one has died here because of the current activity. They have enjoyed an amazing display of nature. And many have lost homes which is the sad result of some of the activity.

And while aircraft continue to fly in and would be most affected by ash which they have not been affected, why does a ship not come into Hilo port when they are 30 miles away from where the ash is generated or 20 miles away from the lava flows where the gases are produced. The captain is cheating the cruise passengers out of visiting our beautiful island.

Being on the Big Island about 8 miles from the eruption it seems the news media really blows this out of proportion. Only a small area of the Big Island of Hawaii is affected by the lava flows. The reason Leilani Estates got hit so hard is they built it right on top of the East Rift Zone an area lava travels underground so that is where it came up at. Hawaii Civil defense only allows residents in that area. The amount of land that is affected is about 1% or less of the land area on the Big Island.

Hilo is 20 miles away and Kona 100 miles away. So both are safe to visit.

The Volcano National Park is 30 miles away from Hilo and this is the area that is closed currently until it is considered safe. So if the Volcano Park is closed on your visit you can visit other locations in Hilo and Kona.

As far as the gases they have been coming out of the volcano for over 30 years from the Pu'u O'o vent and 10 years from the Kilauea Caldera. The location has just moved from Pu'u O'o to the East Rift Zone. So not much has changed on the island in that regard.

Hope that helps clarify things for now.

Gil