Pahoa Village Road residents in the path of the June 27 lava flow took a last look at their neighborhood Monday as Madame Pele’s arrival appeared inevitable.
With lava a few hundred yards away Monday, many of the residents who remained packed up the last of their belongings and talked story with family and neighbors on a half-mile stretch of road that remained oddly quiet after police blocked access to through traffic the night before.
A dip in the road became a focal point where Hawaiian Telcom workers hurriedly raised 70-foot, heat-resistant poles to protect their telephone wires from the lava’s intense heat.
But for Lionel Kaawaloa Sr., who was viewing the activity nearby, the day was hardly unusual.
“It’s another one of those days,” said the 69-year-old Pahoa resident, who lives about three houses from where the flow is expected to cut through town.
Lionel Kaawaloa said he has seen it all before, when he lived in Kalapana a few decades ago and during the 1960 eruption that inundated Kapoho.
“I was there with the ’53 flow,” he said, before listing the numerous other flows he has seen in his lifetime.
“… In ’76, ’73. I’ve been here awhile.”
His wife, Deborah, was back at their house surrounded by family.
She said they were prepared to leave, though it remained difficult to think about.
“The thing is the kids are all somewhere else, but this is home,” Deborah Kaawaloa said. “This is where they can all come back.”
While the home may be lost, she took comfort in knowing the family would still be together.
“There’s nothing I can do but relocate, and we’ll make a new home,” Deborah Kaawaloa said.
“Now that we got each other.”
Not everyone was planning to leave just yet.
While just inside the restricted area, Bill Schmidt said his house would be safe for awhile.
After all, like Lionel Kaawaloa, he also has been through this before and said he knows what to expect.
When Kalapana was being inundated with lava, Schmidt said he house-sat for a friend until Pele finally claimed the residence.
“In the 1990s, when lava came through there, I watched it go by and turn left for a year and a half,” he said.
“It came up in the yard a couple times,” Schmidt added. “Then it finally got it.”
He estimates he will be between 200 to 300 yards from the lava stream when it crosses Pahoa Village Road.
But Schmidt said he knows lava can be unpredictable and that he won’t be safe forever.
“I’ve seen it go up hill a little bit,” he said.
If smoke from lava and burning structures become too much, or if lava reached homes on Apa‘a Street, then Schmidt said he would likely leave.
“When it’s coming down the driveway, then I’ll really have to go,” he said.
Schmidt said he was reluctant to move since it remains difficult to find affordable places while so many homes are threatened. He also operates a small engine shop from his home that remains his source of income.
“I think most people are going to stay as long as they can until the lava gets right there and it’s actually burning us, you know,” Schmidt said.
Engle Kaheaku, whose home was in a low spot near the flow’s path, said he couldn’t take any chances.
“By the end of today (Monday), we got to move,” he said.
“It’s coming. It’s coming, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
