Latest map shows where over 700 homes were covered by lava on the southeast corner of the Big Island in Hawaii. Most houses were covered with over 15 feet of lava from the Kilauea Volcano eruption that started in May 2018… Some are under over 100 feet of lava. Along the coast where there were many million dollar plus homes, lava is over 900 feet thick!. Unlike other disasters (Hurricanes, Floods, Tornadoes, Earthquakes), where at least some people can hope to rebuild, most homeowners in the Puna area (Lelani Estates, Kapoho) cannot rebuild. Their property is no where to be found.
For the most part no effort will be made to retrace the original property lines.
All the basic infrastructure: roads, street lights, traffic signs, electric lines, etc. are buried 20, 30 or even 50 feet underground. There are no familiar landmarks anywhere. Digging out or moving the hardened lava is just not economically possible.
Satellite imaging would provide you with the location of your old property lines, but what good would it do you? There is no way for you to get to your old home except maybe on foot. And how could you “rebuild” when there is no road.The current landscape is very uneven and very unstable. There won’t be any road built that leads to your property for a very long time, if ever.
“Life contains a particle of risk”. I can empathize with folks who lose everything to Pele–her charms are considerable and nigh impossible to refuse. I could never sympathize, however, because making my home on the flanks of an active, smokin’ volcano is just not something I’d do. But one of her most precious yet underrated gifts is the reminder that one doesn’t need possessions to enjoy the beauty of the world.
Sure, that’s the practical answer, but what’s the legal answer? Do they still legally own that plot of land? Do they still have to pay property tax on it? Can they stop paying the prop. tax and let the state seize the land, since it’s now valueless?
Just a hunch, but putting a house on a large black surface under a tropical sun seems like it would be uncomfortably warm even after the fire leaves the rock.
See this article for pictures and interviews with people who rebuilt in previous lava flow zones. It’s not the kind of place I’d want to live, but to each their own.
I saw something previously that homes like this are on the shady side of legality - not permitted or built to code. I can’t find that cite now, though.
Laying a road is not rocket science, but it would cost millions of dollars that the County of Hawaii and the State of Hawaii don’t have. Who is to say that Kilauea won’t erupt again shortly after these roads have been built?
Or you think that individuals who lost their homes to the lava could afford to put in their own road? Some of these home sites are several miles away from the nearest road that survived the eruption. I suppose these people still own the land below the lava, but they certainly don’t own the land between their property and the nearest road. They are going to build a road over other people’s land?
The property value is simply reduced to zero by Hawaii County, so no tax is due. Individuals still own the land, Hawaii State doesn’t seize the property.
