Lava and me

[Kelena]

I am strangley drawn to Puna. I'm from California, but I lived in New Orleans for awhile, right in the French Quarter. What made New Orleans great, aside from the food, the music, and the sheer sultriness of the place, was its people. Every square peg that didn't fit into a round hole in other cities in the South just floated on down the river to New Orleans where they found kindreds spirts, and where those spirits created a delightful eccentricity that was greater than the sum of its parts.

I haven't been to Puna (remember that Three Dog Night song --well, I've never been to blank?" but my research suggests that it might have some of that flavor.

The idea of buckets and buckets of rain puts me off. And there are other things: low-rent people giving stinkeye, coquis and people who want to hug them, D-9-s in lava tubes, and, oh, yes, LAVA.

The thing that stopped me in my tracks about Puna was LAVA. I know Hawaii is volcanic, but, ya know, but the idea of lava reaching out and destroying my home is very disturbing to me.

That being said, a commentator to one of my threads pointed out that lava is not really a mortal danger (generally). Instead, at worst, it will eat your property.

I am trying to get some quotes from Pyramid Insurance on some properties I was interested in (having a little trouble -- they presume I live in it, want to know if I am married and so forth...). Anyway, the conclusion I have come to is this: the volcano is powerful and might blow up. The whole island might blow up. However, the more likely risk is simply that lava will come spreading in your general direction, and (hopefully) set fire to your house (rather than entombing it quietly).

In that case, insurance, in the amount of perhaps a few thousand a year in zone two, will cover you. Property taxes in Puna are low, and so the extra expense for fire insurance (lava insurance for when your house gets torced by lava) is offset at least somewhat by the lower property taxes.

If lava comes, you will have plenty of warning because the US geological survey has a place right near the caldera, and they will tell us. (Is there a siren?).

The worst that will happen is that you will lose your house. When that happens you are compensated --at least to some degree-- for.....for your house? What about land? Not land, right?

Pele pulls me. Give her a hand.

[toucano]

You are right to consider lava, but I don't think it is something to obsess about. If you have spent time in CA and New Orleans, you know that it is pretty hard to find any area without some potential geological problem. Seems like the bigger problem with lava here is adjusting to living on it and building on it AFTER it has been cool a long time. But it sure can be done.

[JerryCarr]

Aloha, Glenn. I, too, lived in the French Quarter for six years back in the 80's. My landlady called it the world's largest open air insane assylum. Are you acquainted with Ruthie, the Duck Lady, who roller skated around the Quarter in a wedding dress with live duck under her arm? She was just one of many wonderful characters.

Puna has some of the same flavor, but not the intensely concentrated wackiness of the French Quarter. Free spirits of many types abound here. Puna is all about neighborhoods, and finding one where you feel comfortable is important. There is incredible variety, ranging from upscale to what some would call borderling slums. On-site research is the only way to find your comfort zone. Come here and spend some time in the areas you are most interested in. Several of the subdivisions even have websites.

Now the lava zone thing is not scary to some folks. Even in the higher risk zones, the chances of any particular location being hit during any year is in the low single digits per cent wise. Somebody somewhere else on this forum did the math on this, so you may want to use the search function to look at that.

Pyroclastic explosions are extremely rare (and localized when they do happen) due to the plumbing of Kilauea, so Mount St. Helens type episodes don't seem to be a worry.

As for the land, it remains yours no matter how thickly it is covered by lava. As to whether the insurance will compensate for the lack of usefulness, you need to ask an insurance person.

If all this does not comfort you, there are some areas in Puna in lower risk zones, and you may want to concentrate your efforts there. Just google "lava zones Hawaii" and you will find maps.

Hope this helps,
Jerry

[Kelena]

Aloha Jerry and Toucano. Yes, there are hazards in Southern California as well --mostly the hideously indifferent attitude of other Southern Californians as they sweep past you at 95 mph! We all know about the hazards of New Orleans. The big one, hurricanes, are actually pretty infrequent -- a few times in a lifetime. Crime is actually the bigger threat there.

Yes, I DO remember Ruthie the Duck Lady. I inquired about her recently and heard that a benefactor had provided a place for her in a nursing home (without the ducks). The Lucky Bead Lady is long gone. I made the mistake of crossing her once. She put some bad gris-gris on me, but I'm all better now, having done my penance.

New Orleans in the Eighties was incredible. I got pulled their by a lover, when I was living in San Francisco. I thought I had descended to the lower rungs of hell. And then one day, I got it. I left for many years and then it pulled me back. Went bonkers and bought a condo there. THAT was fun. Sold it after Hurricane Ivan --the one that no one remembers, but which threatened to take out the city. It took a hard right turn at Grand Isle and spare the city for another year.

As for risk zones, I don't think I can do Zone 3 cuz I gotta have non-catchment water (I can't even take care of my contact lenses, so I am pretty sure I couldn't keep my water pure). Private or County water only exists in Zones 2 and 1 (won't do 1!!!).

I am going to make a trip there. I need to find more slightly off center people like myself, now that New Orleans has been destroyed.

[Carey]

Glen, You're in New orleans & worried about lava flows? Dude, they are slow compared to water in a city below sea level!
Besides, an island that is almost the size of Connecticut, and that has 5 mountains, is not going to blow up completely, even if Kilaeua & Mauna Loa decide on extravagent pyroclastics at the same time (of course it will not make nice for Puna & the lower portion of the island, nor the air & sunlight for a HUGE area of the Pacific). The Zones are for LAVA potential, they have nothing to do with water (there was county water that is being reinstalled this year in the areas that had lava less than 2 decades ago!) Lava Zones 1 & 2 have a fair chance of being in an area of lava in historical times, Lava 3+ have less of a chance. Houses built in lava zones 3+ are routinely insured, in 2- they may need to be insured by the State & Llyods of Lordon. There are a couple of interesting new houses on the 1990's Kalapana flow that look as if the owners have anticipated a need for a house move in the future & have construted the home in modular looking segments, another way to go if insurance is to $$$. Still gotta remember that fire is the #1 house destroyer in Puna, as everywhere, so it is better to worry about the electrical systems & such in your house.
If you want, an excellant resource (award winning!) on this island, geographically & geologically, is the Atlas of Hawaii, James & Sonia Juvik, UH Press.
Aloha, Carey

PS Catchment water is not that complicated, mainy filter replacements at 2-3 mos interval - and if you forget, the water starts to trickle, so you do get a reminder- and making sure that it was constructed correctly to begin with & such.

Edited by - Carey on 09/06/2006 22:03:43

[toucano]

Catchment water isn't that complicated. I don't drink it or cook with it. You can get decent free water from county sites that are located around Puna. I don't like to drink it straight, but makes decent coffee. You might really limit your choices of where you live if you must have supplied water. Search the site here for catchment and you'll know all you need to know.

[Lee G]

Glen,
Firstly, You need to come see Puna for yourself. Then you will see that the lava is not your biggest worry. I think there is more of a chance to get struck by lightning then have your property destroyed by lava.
Catchment water is so easy and in my opinion better than county well water. I don't think 1 week is enough time to explore The Big Island give yourself at least 2 weeks to get a good feel for the place. I would be more concerned about employment than lava. Just my 2 cents woth.
Lee

[Carolann R]

Tony and I were a little concerned about catchment water until we did some research. We also stayed at Lee & Ana's place in Orchidland and the catchment water there was awesome! Maintaining a pool would be much more time consuming. But with UV filters, etc...silly to worry about it. It's a real benefit to have it since it's free water! Many, many places use catchment water systems, but it seems like people from the mainland have a problem with it 'cause it's foreign to them. Not a worse way to do something - just different!



Carrie

"To be one, to be united is a great thing. But to respect the right to be different is maybe even greater." Bono

http://www.hellophoenix.com/art

[loffelkopffl]

i've never once worried about lava, before or after i moved here

[wyatt]

Hey Glenn , we also have UV filter system. We drink it without reservation and part of my
background was in water treatment. The only thing we miss with catchment is the high California water bills. We were both born and raised in a small town in So. California. No longer small. Glad to be out of there. As for the lava, the simply beauty of the Volcano was
a plus. The threat of Lava flow is real but just a trade off for living in this wonderful place. Come check it out. Puna has away of
draw you in.

Aloha
Wyatt