Lava Hazard Zones

[Marcia R]

Aloha:

I haven't posted here for a very long time, but I feel that I need to clarify the Lava Hazard zone myth that seems to dissuade people from moving into certain areas.

I, too, didn't even want to consider moving into Leilani Estates because it was Lava Zone 1. I did a little research, and found the following column written by one of the scientists at Hawaiian Volcano Observatory:

http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch/1996/96_02_23.html

According to the column, "The staff of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (past and present) has worked honestly and without bias to create a map that reflects the lava flow hazards on this island as best as we can determine them. Unfortunately, the misapplication of the hazards map has led to great frustration for many people living in the higher hazard zones due to unavailability of property insurance.

The average lava flow coverage in hazard zones 1 and 2 on Kilauea Volcano is slightly less than 30% in a 150-year period. Such coverage translates to a roughly 4.5% chance that any property will be lost to lava flows during the average life span of a house of 33 years in Hawai`i. These rough calculations indicate that the chance of loss each year is 0.14%."

I'll take those odds to have my piece of paradise. Heck, I was in horrendous earthquakes in Los Angeles twice in the fifteen years I lived there, so the %0.14 yearly chance of lava covering our property is nothin'.

The horrendous Lloyd's of London insurance rate is another topic altogether...

Marcia R.

[Lee DeJongh]

very interesting.

Edited by - lee dejongh on 07/14/2006 11:34:51

[Andrew]

Great article Marcia.

Thanks for posting it.

[Carey]

Marcia, University of Hawaii has a great map on the island that has every lava flow mapped & the ages of all of the soils on the island (They have a small folding map with the flows from the last 200 years, but his is much larger & has all major surface flows & soils dated). Do not know for sure if it is available for purchase (when I asked, my prof was not sure if it was in print) but there is a copy on the Geology Building wall (College Hall buildings off of Lanikaula).
Aloha, Carey

[Kahunascott]

Marcia I don’t think the real dilemma is loosing your home to lava. If that were the case most of us wouldn’t invest in real estate here. The real problem is homeowners insurance. I understand that to insure your home over $250K (Lava zone l &ll) you need to go to Lloyds of London and pay a stiff premium. Years ago this wasn’t a big problem with the value of homes under this threshold. But today with many of the home values well over this limit, it should be a consideration when making a large investment.

[Marcia R]

Agreed. Our premium is over $3500k/year. But, I also know that a lot of people who are considering moving here are scared of "the volcano."

To wit, when I lived in California, I had a perfect driving record, no accidents and paid close to $2k/year to insure my '97 Nissan Sentra. The car cost me $13k.

Marcia