Many locals resigned to the volcanic destruction of their Hawaiian town

Lava from the Kilauea volcano on the island of Hawaii is threatening to destroy the village of Pahoa, just 20 miles south of Hilo, and on October 28 the lava flow made it's first inroads into the town proper by destroying a shed in the morning; now it sits within 100 yards of the first house.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - "Living through this is an exercise in patience and nonattachment," said one resident. "Madam Pele (a traditional Hawaiian goddess) is our teacher."

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Kilauea has been erupting for over 30 years, but this latest threat dates from just June.

By the evening of the 28, lava had moved up 410 yards from the slope of Pahoa Village Road, the town's main street. There, utility crews were working frantically to keep power, water and web access operational.

Lava can damage buried water lines and make them inaccessible for repair crews. To combat this crews were isntalling shut-off valves at either end of the expected path.

It is almost certain that Pahoa will be covered within a day or two. Just after that, Highway 130-the only highway that connects the lower Puna district to the rest of the big island-could be covered too. If that happens then the 9,000 residents of Pahoa will be isolated.

Over the weekend, the lava flow advanced rapidly, as fast as 20 yards an hour. Officials warned residents to get ready to clear out, but by Monday the lava had slowed to only four or five yards an hour. The next day the flow had sped up again to 10 and 15 yards per hour.

One man, Josiah Hunt, whose farm is not being immediately threatened, has watched the lave flow closer and closer toward Pahoa. Last week he reported that he saw a woman whose house was threatened but a flower lei in front of the flow.

"It helps a person come to grips with the reality of the situation," he said. "I found it to be oddly comforting in a really strange way."

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