02-02-2018, 01:52 PM
quote:Yes, Nancy will always be remembered for her enthusiasm, and love of the lava flows. And how her death symbolized the endless question of safety verses the passion that so many feel for witnessing, often at considerable risk, the majesty of Kilauea's activity.
Originally posted by geochem
This is not the first time this kind of thing has happened. For those of you who were around for the November 2000 storm, you may recall that the day after the storm, a couple that had hiked out onto the flows during the storm were found dead out on the lava. There was a lot of speculation about what had killed them - "they had gotten too close to the ocean and been trapped in a steam cloud" and a host of other guesses....
It has always amazed me how passions blind us from concerns for our own safety, and how authorities have dealt with the passion of visitors to the lava flows. Ever since the lava first went onto the ocean in the National Park (during the Puu Oo series) they have had varying policies on access. From nobody could go anywhere near it to no restrictions at all. At one point they had manned barricades preventing access entirely and OSHA came by and tested the air quality and said it was unhealthy for federal employees to be in so they took them away, effectively going from no access to an unsupervised free for all. What do you want to bet yesterday's tragedy is going to have them swing back to a more restrictive policy?
And of course this holds true for the county and state as well. Big swings from very restrictive to go for it do whatever you want. What to you want to bet Harry is mulling over all sorts of restrictive policies now as well?
The real shame is had those involved in yesterday's ordeal been better educated about the dangers and how to mitigate them maybe they would have been better prepared. This is the same thing that arrises when one considers the lava boat tours. A desire to thrill the unsuspecting tourist, verses safety for all involved. And I am sure the USGS, the ones that are best prepared to provide the eduction to allow people to safely follow their passions, probably doesn't want anything to do with that sort of thing. After all they're a research organization, not babysitters.