(BIVN) – During the public celebration of the reopening of Isaac Hale Beach Park, Puna resident Steve Hirakami shared his view of the summer eruption of Kīlauea Volcano that narrowly spared Pohoʻiki.

“I was really not expecting this many people to show up,” Hirakami said, looking at the hundreds of visitors walking on the long stretch of new, black sand beach. “It just gives evidence how important of a resource this place is. It gives the people hope. I mean, out of all these months and months of devastation, to see this absolute natural miracle, and stand on it, and wonder at it, gives people hope and gives us a chance to revive our lives here in Puna.”

“Of course, it happened before and it will happen again,” Hirakami said. “It’s about creation, and making new things, and making us wonder, and making us feel really humble. We’re not in control, nature is in control. As you can see by what nature has deposited here in the way of a black sand beach at Pohoʻiki, it is really a miracle.”

In the above video, Hirakami tells the story of Pohoʻiki during the eruption of Kīlauea, from May 2018 to the present.