Threat to Pahoa?!

[HADave]

I can't believe any and all attempts made to protect life and property could be misconstrued as botched up liabilty issues. To do nothing will surely mean loss and perhaps for many rather than few.

Diverting lava has been successful in many other parts of the world Italy and Iceland for two and history shows several attempts to redirect flows during the 1960 eruption although attempts failed they made a great effort and without mention of liabilities. The valiant but futile efforts of 1960 doesn't mean that continued efforts couldn't or wouldn't prove successful.

http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/history/1....html#warm

Several other methods of diverting lava flows have been
tried:
(a) Bombing
Low-viscosity basaltic lava flows have been bombarded from aircraft
in attempts to open new channels or to break up and clog flows which were
threatening valuable property. For instance, during the 1942 eruption of
Mauna Loa in Hawaii, a lava flow was breached high on the slopes of the
volcano and the lava front 20 km away ceased its advance soon after;
however, the intensity of the eruption had decreased in the meantime, so
that it could not be proved that it was the bombing that stopped the
advance of the lava.
Bombing from aircraft can only be attempted in good weather and
with good visibility; during eruptions, however, visibility is often very
poor, and violent air turbulence can also make the operation dangerous.
Air-to-ground guided missiles might possibly give better results but they
have not yet been used for this purpose.
Even under the best conditions, bombing from the air is generally not
accurate enough, and there is always the risk that a misdirected bomb may
increase the flow in the wrong direction. It is doubtful whether bombing
could have any significant effect on thick flows. An alternative method, the
explosive breaching of lava flows, using charges installed by hand into
shallow boreholes, was experimental on Etna in May 1983.
(b) Diversion barriers
There has been much discussion of the feasibility of constructing bar-
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riers to divert lava flows. In 1881,W. R. Lawrence proposed to build a barrier
to slow down a flow from Mauna Loa which was threatening the city of
Hilo, but the eruption ceased before the work was completed.