More homes and other properties in Pahoa, Hawaii are being threatened by the lava flow that comes out of the Kilauea volcano, latest reports said.
According to a news report published by the Associated Press, the lava flow has further moved and is now about a hundred feet or around 30 meters from a residential property in Pahoa.
Darryl Oliveira, director at Hawaii County Civil Defence, was quoted in the AP report saying that the distance between the lava flow and the house is now around the size of a basketball court. The report also added that the owners of the house that is being threatened by the lava flow have already left and evacuated.
A separate report published by the Agence France Presse said that the lava flow has "advanced some 90 yards or approximately 82 meters in the past 24 hours, towards the town of Pahoa, on the eastern tip of the island," citing some officials and data from the County of Hawaii's Civil Defense. The AFP report also quoted the Hawaii County Civil Defense saying that the lava flow is moving "northeast".
But AFP noted that the lava flow is moving slower. It has now an average speed of five yards per hour. Earlier reports pointed out that the lava flows at around 10 to 15 yards per hour, it added.
Meanwhile, another report from Reuters said that the lava flow had earlier entered and affected a cemetery and some of the outskirts.
Reuters said that the lava flow, as of Wednesday morning, had already "advanced to within 250 yards of Pahoa Village Road." Pahoa Village Road, Reuters said, serves as the town's "main street." There are around 800 people in the area, it added.
According to AP, many homes and business establishments are being threatened by the lava flow, should it continue with its direction and speed. But AP said that the number of structures to be affected can still go up should the lava "flow front widens."
The lava flow, AP said, has so far destroyed a "garden shed, tires and some metal materials." It has also damaged vegetation.
Aside from the damage, experts and scientists are also studying the dangers and threats being posed by the smoke that comes from the volcano, AP said. The report quoting director Oliveira said that chemists have detected "low levels of sulfur dioxide."
AFP report said that a "state of emergency" has already been declared by Mayor Billy Kenoi last month. Meanwhile, Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie last week asked for a "Presidential Disaster Declaration to unlock federal resources to help local emergency protective measures," AFP added.
Reuters said that the Kilauea volcano has started erupting in 1983 but the latest lava flows started this June.