After weeks of watching, Hawaii lava nears homes (VIDEO)

Hawaii officials will make arrangements for those living in the path of a lava flow to watch the destruction of their homes.

That accommodation is being made to “provide for a means of closure,” Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Darryl Oliveira said Monday. “You can only imagine the frustration as well as … despair they’re going through.”

Dozens of residents have been told they might have to evacuate as lava from Kilauea heads toward their homes.

The lava was about 70 yards from a home Monday evening, officials said.

After weeks of fitful advancement, the lava crossed Apaa Street on Sunday in Pahoa Village, considered a main town of the Big Island’s isolated and rural Puna district. It was getting dangerously close to Pahoa Village Road, which goes straight through downtown.

Here’s a look at the volcano:

THE LATEST

The flow advanced about 275 yards from Sunday morning to Monday morning, moving northeast at about 10 to 15 yards per hour. At other times, the lava slowed to about 2 yards per hour or sped up to about 20 yards per hour, depending on topography, said Janet Babb, a spokeswoman for the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Teams of scientists from the observatory were walking alongside the flow day and night to provide updates, she said.

Officials closed part of Pahoa Village Road to everyone except residents as the flow front moves closer.

Those living downslope of the flow are under an evacuation advisory. Most residents have left, and Oliveira said he doesn’t anticipate having to issue a mandatory evacuation order.

The couple living in the house closest to the flow have left but have been returning periodically to gather belongings, Oliveira said.

Apaa Street resident Imelda Raras, said she and her husband are ready to go to a friend’s home if officials tell them they should leave.

“We are still praying,” she said. “I hope our home will be spared.”

SLOW CREEP

Scientists began warning the public about the lava on Aug. 22. At the time, residents were cleaning up from a tropical storm that made landfall over the Puna district.

The lava has advanced and slowed as residents waited and watched.

Kilauea volcano, one of the world’s most active, has been erupting continuously since 1983.

This is not an eruption at the caldera, the things that make for stunning pictures as red lava spews from the mountaintop.

Decomposition of vegetation in the lava’s path has created methane gas, which if it accumulates and is ignited by heat can cause a blast, Babb said.

“It’s not a massive explosion,” she said. “But it can dislodge rocks. It can hurl large rocks several feet.”

WHO IS AT RISK?

Initially, the lava seemed headed for the Kaohe Homesteads, a widespread, sparsely populated subdivision in the Puna district.

It reached vacant lots before it stalled. It skirted a corner of the subdivision and then headed toward Pahoa.

Pahoa has small-town charm, but it’s “the only town in a commercial sense in lower Puna,” said state Sen. Russell Ruderman, who represents Puna and runs a natural food store in Pahoa.

Because the lava could change direction, any community in Puna is at risk. Everyone in the district lives on the volcano. The lush, agricultural district is about a 30-minute drive from the coastal town of Hilo.

This story was originally published October 28, 2014 at 12:06 PM with the headline "After weeks of watching, Hawaii lava nears homes (VIDEO)."