State and federal emergency management workers on Thursday inspected damage caused by the recent Mauna Loa eruption.
The team of inspectors from the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, or HI-EMA, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency examined damage sustained to the Mauna Loa Observatory Road and Old Kona Highway.
Both roads were severed by lava from the eruption, which began Sunday, Nov. 27, and continued through Tuesday, Dec. 13.
The Mauna Loa Observatory, owned and operated by the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, also became inaccessible when lava blocked access and destroyed power lines to the facility, which monitors the climate and atmosphere.
While NOAA is working on getting the observatory up and running again, personnel have been flown to the building to continue getting air samples since there was no direct damage to the facility.
The inspection by HI-EMA and FEMA is part of a joint preliminary damage assessment which will be used to determine whether the costs incurred from damage, impacts and emergency protective measures quality for federal funding assistance through FEMA.
The HI-EMA administrator Luke Meyers said the team assessed the damage with Hawaii County personnel who managed the people, property and infrastructure of the Big Island during the eruption.
“The joint damage assessment is a great way to validate the impacts with everyone there at one time,” Meyers said. “It helps give everyone a timeline, because you can still feel the heat coming off the lava.”
The assessment will be presented to Gov. Josh Green for review as he decides whether to request a federal disaster declaration to help Hawaii recover from the eruption’s effects.
If the declaration were to be sought and approved, most of the eligible expenses would qualify for federal reimbursement, with local funding reduced to about 25% of the total.
The site visit “provided a very clear picture of how much lava damage there is,” Meyers said. “Fortunately, the eruption was not an imminent threat to communities, but there was significant damage to the roads and other infrastructure, especially on the observatory road.”
The eruption was the first at Mauna Loa in 38 years, the longest pause between eruptions in modern history. The volcano has erupted 34 times since 1843, for an average of about once every five years, but only three times since 1950.
The primary lava flow from the 2022 eruption reached within 1.7 miles of the Daniel K. Inouye Highway.
Email Kelsey Walling at kwalling@hawaiitribune-herald.com.