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The Latest: Hawaii lava destroys more than 600 homes
Published June 07, 2018
The Latest on Kilauea volcano's eruption in Hawaii (all times local):
4:45 p.m.
Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim says lava from Kilauea volcano has destroyed more than 600 homes since early last month.
Kim told reporters in Hilo on Thursday the total includes about 320 homes in the coastal community of Kapoho. It also includes all homes in Vacationland.
Kilauea began erupting lava in a residential community on May 3. Lava has since been pouring out of large fissures in the earth and down to the ocean.
Hawaii Gov. David Ige says the state was giving the county $12 million to help it respond to the eruption.
He says it will help pay for overtime, food and equipment, noting county employees have been working an around-the-clock operation for almost 40 days.
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12 p.m.
Scientists say lava that poured into the low-laying coastal Hawaii neighborhoods of Kapoho and Vacationland spread across the area in just two days.
The lava destroyed hundreds of homes, forever changing the landscape and forming a new shoreline that is expected to keep growing.
Officials with the U.S. Geological Survey said Thursday that the lava feeding that flow is still active and there's no way to know when the eruption will end or if more lava-spewing vents will open.
Lava filled Kapoho Bay and created land that now juts out nearly a mile from the former shoreline.
That new land is owned by the state, but the peninsula won't look like the lush green farmland that dominates that region of the Big Island anytime soon.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/the-latest-hawaii-lava-destroys-more-than-600-homes