The five volcanoes of Hawaii are revered as sacred mountains. Hawaiians associated elements of their natural environment with particular deities from mythology, the sky father Wakea marries the earth mother Papa, giving birth to the Hawaiian Islands. Kilauea itself means ‘spewing’ in Hawaiian, referencing its high state of activity, and is known as ’the body’ of the deity Pele, goddess of fire, lightning, wind, and volcanoes. An explosive eruption at Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano has sent ash 30,000ft into the sky. Magma is draining underground from a sinking lava lake at Kilauea’s 4,091-foot summit before flowing 25 miles east and bursting from giant cracks, with several flows reaching the ocean just over three miles away. At least 2,200 acres of land have been torched by lava since May 3, in what is likely to be the most destructive eruption of Kilauea in more than a century. The crippling fury of the volcano was let loose on the Big Island’s Leilani Estates housing development, with the number of homes and other structures destroyed jumping to 82. Tourism provides 30 percent of the private sector jobs on the Big Island, concern has grown over the potential of a long-term hit on the island’s economy. the National Park Service reported that the closure of the park alone could see $166 million in lost revenue. Though the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park remains closed, the eruption affects only a tiny corner of the Aloha state, a rural, 10 square mile area on one of the eight main islands. Honolulu is more than 200 miles from the erupting volcano. The state estimates the volcano has already cost Hawaii millions in tourism dollars, and now faces the tricky job of reassuring tourists that Hawaii is still open for business.
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