(ABOVE VIDEO) Saturday morning civil defense message with footage from Friday overflights.

NEWS BRIEFS

• The lava flow crossed Apa’a Street at 3:50 a.m. this morning and continues to advance in a northeast direction towards the cemetery at about 10 yards per hour. The flow advanced 300 yards since yesterday. Civil defense says smoke from the burning asphalt is not affecting area communities at this time. Apa’a Street remains closed.
• Residents in the flow path are now being be placed on an evacuation notice. The evacuation notice means residents in the flow path should prepare for possible evacuation in the next three to five days. Evacuation could come as early as Tuesday, October 28th.
• UPDATE: Hawai‘i Electric Light reports that its power poles along Apa‘a Street currently remain in place as the lava flow crossed the road earlier this morning. There are no outages at this time.

PRIMARY SOURCES

This morning’s assessment shows that the flow has advanced approximately 300 yards since yesterday. The flow front crossed Apa’a Street at approximately 3:50am this morning and continues to advance in a northeast direction towards the cemetery. The flow is currently moving at approximately 10 yards per hour. Smoke from the burning asphalt is not affecting area communities at this time however residents are advised that conditions could change with the varying winds.

Civil Defense and Public Safety personnel will be conducting door to door notifications of residents in the down slope areas of Pahoa Village to insure residents are aware of current activities. Based on the current flow location, direction and advancement, residents in the flow path will be placed on an evacuation notice.

The evacuation notice means residents in the flow path areas should prepare for possible evacuation in the next three to five days. Those area residents will be kept informed of the flow movement and are asked to complete all necessary preparations for a possible evacuation by Tuesday October 28th.

Apa’a Street and Cemetery Road will remaind closed between the Pahoa Transfer Station and the Kaohe Homesteads Road. In addition, Civil Defense and public safety personnel will be operating in the area round the clock to maintain close observations of flow activity.Hawaii County Civil Defense on Oct. 25 at 8 a.m. HST

Courtesy Hawaii County Civil Defense

HVO scientists monitored the the June 27th flow on a mid-day overflight yesterday afternoon, and the distal portion of the flow on the ground yesterday. As part of the overflight, HVO scientists measured the cross sectional area of the lava tube feeding the flow. This measurement suggests that the volume of lava being supplied to the flow from the Puʻu ʻŌʻō vent has increased slightly. There were very few active breakouts on the flow behind the front. The rate of advance of the lobe that is now the leading edge of the flow is about 240 m/day (260 yd/day). Scientists are currently monitoring the flow front and will issue a status update this afternoon.

Puʻu ʻŌʻō Observations: There was no appreciable tilt measured at Puʻu ʻŌʻō over the last day. Seismic tremor remained steady. Glow was visible overnight above several outgassing openings in the crater floor, but there were no significant changes in activity within the crater. The most recent sulfur-dioxide emission-rate measurement for the East Rift Zone was 340 tonnes per day (from all sources) on October 23, 2014.

Summit Observations: Tiltmeters at the summit did not record any significant tilting over the past day. The lava lake level fluctuated slightly, as usual, but there was no significant net change over the last day. USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatoryon Oct. 25, 2014 at 9:18 a.m. HST

USGS HVO: A wider view of the flow front, and its position relative to Pāhoa. This morning the flow front was 1.2 km (0.7 miles) from Pāhoa Village Road, as measured along a straight line. Pāhoa Village Road is at the bottom of the photograph.

Hawai‘i Electric Light reports that its power poles along Apa‘a Street currently remain in place as the lava flow crossed the road earlier this morning. There are no outages at this time.

“We are encouraged by the initial result of the pole protection design, but the long term results are still not determined,” said spokeswoman Rhea Lee. “We will continue to closely monitor the flow and its effect on our infrastructure. As the lava flow progresses, we expect the lava will rise and inflate. This is the second test of our experimental design.”HELCO Oct. 25, 2014