07-14-2006, 05:36 AM
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.
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.