Why would one live in an area...

[Dave Smith]

To add to what Obie offered about storms which have hit the Big Island, check out:

http://www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc/summaries/1800s.php?Kohala

and scroll down to the part about the 1871 Kohala Cyclone. Sounds like it was a whopper.

[Bullwinkle]

Right now, I don't know whether there is more safety in location, or being a bit more respectful of the island and its values. Madam Pele has proven to be a harsh mistress in the past, Letting Hilo escape destruction in 1984... The films are sobering

Aloha

[mgeary]

I've got to say that the tone of this thread, "Why would one live in an area..." wasn't very encouraging. You could ask the same question about those who live in a desert, those who live in an earthquake zone, those who live in tornado alley, those who live in hurricane country, those who live where you have to shovel snow, etc. It's just not up to me to pass judgement on those who choose to live wherever they do, even if it's in Greenland.

Oftentimes, people just wind up wherever they wind up, without a lot of pre-meditation involved. I've spent the last 30-odd years in a place where I'd really rather have not been, Bakersfield, California. There's not much to recommend about Bakersfield. It's a typical San Joaquin valley town, much like Fresno, Modesto, or Madera, with all that goes with it. But it's been my home, primarily because that's where my job has been. If I'da known then what I know now...

Now that my career is sunsetting, I have some choices about where I want to live. PunaWeb has been invaluable in helping me to understand the reality of living in Puna, although my wife and I have vacationed in Kona, Kauai, and Maui, to learn about those places as well.

Risks vs. rewards is what it's all about, isn't it? If I walk into a Leilani or Kapoho home, eyes wide open, with the understanding that at any minute a volcano could erupt down the block or literally under my feet, well, who are you to second-guess my choice? I've traveled a fair bit in my life, and the Puna area is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. I may not choose to live in lava zone 1 or 2, but I certainly don't question the decision-making ability of those who have made that choice.

Aloha! ;-)

[StillHope]

Where do you live,Dakine?
Da Kona?

[dakine]

quote:

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Originally posted by mgeary

I've got to say that the tone of this thread, "Why would one live in an area..." wasn't very encouraging.

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Aloha mgeary

In starting this thread it was never my intent to encourage or discourage. Of course for Puna to be as populated as it is there has got to be a lot of people with a lot of different takes on the question. For myself, the whole lava zone this or that has never been an issue, though I never bought land nor lived in the most threatened areas, zones 1 and 2 etc., I have never applied any standard such as volcanic vulnerability to my decisions on where to live. I suppose if I were to have been inspired to live in one of those zones I would have given it more consideration. But just by the pure nature of my attractions it's always been lava zone 3 for me. I have however seen a lot of takes on the issue and thought it was a good one for discussion, especially as recently where I live (to answer StillHope's question, on Mauna Loa north of Volcano Village) has been impacted in a way that is making the idilic life that my family originally bought into, built, and have put down more roots than we would ever want to uproot, on the verge of untenable. With the opening of the new vent in Halemaumau at the summit of Kilauea, where we live is in a zone that the gases are so bad on Kona wind days that one literally has to wear a gas mask to go outside. This is not a situation we would buy into, but it is one we are deeply rooted in and now have to ask ourselves how realistic staying here is.

And, btw... I have a lifetime of experience with Kilauea, and having made my living documenting it's eruptions since 1985, I am deeply aware of both it's beauty and it's dangers. In 1990, when Kalapana was being overrun by lava, I was involved in such a way that I was there daily and able to get to know a lot of the impacted people, and share in their, for what was to most, crisis.

I witnessed everything from people that stated that they never knew that they were living on a volcano, literally one lady was completely blown away to learn that her house which was going to be overrun by lava within the next 24 hours was built on a volcano. On the other end of the spectrum there was a couple that sat on their lanai making leis that as the lava crossed their yard they placed on the doorstep and, leaving all they owned inside the house, walked away without any sense of loss at all.

I saw people jack up their homes and have them driven away. I saw families in mourning, where the whole clan came from all over the world and sat for days and nights in prayer practically begging god to spare them. I talked with Hawaiians that recounted their family history that went farther back than the last flows that came through the area (approx. 700 years ago), and saw no loss at all, just new opportunities. I saw the members of the Mauna Kea Church decide to leave it to god, I saw the Painted Church jacked up and taken away.

So it is not without a sense of at least a few of the perspectives that I asked the original question. I am sorry if I asked it in a way that would lead anyone to think I had a specific, and by your tone I figure you took it as a negative, perspective. Quite the opposite in fact. We (my wife and I) still dream of, hope to, be able to buy land in the Kalapana area before too many more years go by.

[mgeary]

Aloha dakine!

Your last post puts a much different light on the matter compared to your first post on this thread. I took your first post as passing judgement on those who chose to live in Kapoho. My apology if I misunderstood your message. I could well ask "Who the heck would want to live in the desert?", but thousands (millions?) of people are happy in places like Phoenix, Palm Springs, Albuquerque, Taos, St. George, Mojave, Palmdale, etc. It's certainly not where I want to live, but to each his own. Your last post puts a gentler light on the matter.

I believe you when you tell the story of the woman who didn't know she lived on top of a volcano. I don't understand people like that, who aren't aware of their surroundings. My goal is to be an organic part of the area in which I live, the local weather, sun and stars, the hazards of any kind, the flora and fauna, all of it. That's being fully alive, to me. I could be fully alive in Puna.

Aloha! ;-)

[Hawaiibound]

quote:

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Originally posted by Laughing_girl

Why do I live in Kapoho? Because the weather except for maybe Aug and early Sept is absolutely perfect. My first choice would be Puako which is now out of my budget and was by mid 1990's. We bid on a (vacant) lot in Puako at a tax auction in '93 that blew past my $250K bid about 30 seconds into the auction.

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Is the weather too wet or too hot in Aug/Sept?

[EightFingers]

Another way of looking at this...

****WARNING: HYPOTHETICAL SCENARIO BELOW****

Say I built my house in LZ1 (I knew it was LZ1 but the land was cheap) and the lava comes and cooks it. How many here would help me get back on my feet? Or would you say: "You should have known better, bud, you're on your own!"

[Obie]

Perhaps this topic should be changed to "Why would anyone live on the Big Island"

At the present time,Kapoho is just about the only place that doesn't have vog.
I had 2 or 3 days this past year when it was hazy,but did not have any problems breathing.

[Greg]

Eightfingers, I can attest that in 1990, during the lava inundation of Kalapana, much help comfort and aloha was present. People helping people was the norm, and I believe a bond was formed that lasts today.

As far as LZ1 preparedness; Folks have lived on the rift for hundreds of years. In ancient times homes and villages were built modestly and easily moved out of the way.

Dozens of homes were moved to safety from kalapana. Most of the two hundred or so homes that were destroyed were allowed to burn because they were insured and that was the only option the insurance companies would pay out for. People without insurance simply took the ancient example and moved their homes.

A good practice anywhere in Puna is to build modularly, or at least post and beam.

It's amazing to me how someone would build a large Rancher on a slab on the rift of an active volcano, and then seriously suggest "diversion" when their investment is threatened. Lava diversion will never happen here; for cultural and liability reasons. It's much easier to move a sensibly constructed house than it is to steer Lava on this pourous rift.



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