Residents say Hawaii's air is getting worse

To me this would be a no brainer considering everything going on. For years and years the lava has been going into the ocean pretty regularly. However, now it is becoming an active volcano once again further inland. But, even before if the wind was blowing wrong you could have vog (volcano smog) especially as far away as Maui where I have lived and it could be pretty thick. It didn't affect your breathing that much but it reminded me a lot of Los Angeles smog in the 1950s when it was really really bad. Now you have a whole volcano going off with lava coming out of rifts inland which is much more extreme and much worse. So, I can only imagine just how many families are sending their wife and kids (at the very least) to other islands further away or even to the mainland to prevent lung damage or fatalities at this point.
IF you cannot breathe you aren't going to live very long. This is a given.
begin quote from:Residents say Hawaii's air is getting worse

2 weeks after Hawaii volcano eruption, residents say it's getting worse

By Stephanie Elam and Nicole Chavez, CNN

Updated 9:06 AM ET, Fri May 18, 2018

 

This is what it's like on the ground on Hawaii's Big Island 01:40

Pahoa, Hawaii (CNN)Steve Gebbie has to wear a face mask every time he comes close to his home on Hawaii's Big Island.

When the Kilauea volcano erupted on May 3, Gebbie and hundreds of others were forced from their homes in the Leilani Estates subdivision. His home is still standing today, but it's surrounded by toxic gas.

"It's hard to believe that it's happened in our neighborhood," Gebbie says. "And every day has gotten worse."

Residents have been periodically allowed back to their homes to check on them.

Fissures, or cracks in the ground, are opening wider and wider by the day. The lush green jungle has turned into yellow and rotten vegetation. Sections of streets that disappeared under the lava two weeks ago now look like a river of black molten rock.

Steve Gebbie has come near his home almost daily since he evacuated his Leilani Estates.

close dialog

Receive Fareed Zakaria's Global Analysis

including insights and must-reads of world news

By subscribing you agree to our

privacy policy.

The toxic gas continues spewing from the fissures.

Gebbie, 56, says the windows and doors of his home have turned orange due to the gas. He knows he will likely never be able to live there again.

"We can't give up," said Gebbie, who's lived in Leilani Estates for 12 years.

"This is paradise," he added.

Read more: How to help the Hawaii volcano victims

21st fissure forms

A new fissure opened up Thursday evening, adding a new hazard for residents of Hawaii's Big Island, officials said.

In the past week, an eruption from the volcano's summit shot ash and smoke 30,000 feet into the air, new fissures appeared and some earlier ones reactivated flowing lava.

These satellite images show how lava has seared neighborhoods in Hawaii

Authorities handed out almost 18,000 masks to help residents deal with the fallout.

Scientists with the United States Geological Survey expect eruptions to continue.

"At any time, activity may again become more explosive, increasing the intensity of ash production and producing ballistic projectiles near the vent," the USGS said. "Ballistic projectiles may be produced should steam-driven explosions occur. Impacts will be limited to an area around Halemaumau."

Halemaumau is the crater within Kilauea's summit caldera.

CNN's Stephanie Elam reported from Pahoa, Hawaii, Nicole Chavez wrote and reported from Washington. CNN's Joe Sutton contributed to this report.