Once the lava stops, rebuilding and futures uncertain in Hawaii

The lava cools to rock, and it isn’t always cleared: When a section of the scenic Chain of Craters Road in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park was buried by lava in the 1980s, it stayed blocked until 2014 when a 5-mile section was bulldozed as an emergency access road to connect Kalapana in case it was cut off. (The iconic “road closed” sign sticking up from the hardened lava was removed and saved.) But a section of that road was covered in lava again in 2016.

Sections of cooled lava were cleared from a transfer station in Pahoa after the 2014 flow, and hardened rock was removed from Cemetery Road in 2015, despite the covered road reportedly becoming a tourist attraction.

“It’s hard, and it builds up very, very high,” said Carolyn Loeffler, owner of Loeffler Construction in Hilo, which did not do work on the areas affected by the 2014 flow. “You generally need hydraulic hammers attached to your equipment,” she said.

Building on areas affected by lava flows on Hawaii have to go through a review and permitting process to ensure that building is safe, said Barett Otani, information and education specialist for the Hawaii County Department of Public Works.

Lava engulfed the community of Kalapana, which is southwest of Leilani Estates and near Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, in 1990. The lava flow buried 100 homes, as well as some other structures, beneath 50 to 80 feet of lava, according to the USGS.

But by 2012, people had returned and new homes had been built in Kalapana Gardens. Honolulu magazine spoke with residents therethat year, including Kent Napper and Nancy Lowe, who built a small two-story house there. “Where else in Hawaii can you buy land with an ocean view like this for $10,000?” they told the publication.

In 2014, NBC News spoke to Chris Adkins, a tax return examiner in Hilo, who was building a home on a lava field in Kalapana. He bought a 0.6-acre lot for $6,500. “I’ll have no mortgage, no homeowner’s association. It’s all a matter of perspective,” he said then.

Herman Ludwig, owner of Ludwig Construction in Hilo, whose company cleared hardened lava from the area around the transfer station affected in 2014, said that the hardened lava left behind requires heavy equipment, but is little different than removing other types of rock.

“Most of our island is like that,” Ludwig said. One can build houses on the rock left behind, “but the lava might come back again,” he said.

No state highways have been covered by the lava flow in the current eruption, but Highway 130 was closed in the area due to cracking, state Department of Transportation spokesperson Tim Sakahara said. If roads are covered by lava flow, crews decide whether to go through, over or around the rock left behind, he said.

Homeowner and renter’s insurance should cover damage caused by fires caused by the heat from lava, the same way that those policies cover fire from any other cause, insurance experts said.

Lava-caused property damage is usually attributed to fire, according to the Insurance Information Institute, a trade group. If the damage is from the earthquake, homeowners and renters would likely need earthquake coverage. Vehicles are covered if the insured has purchased optional comprehensive coverage, the group says.

“In the past situations [with] the lava flow, there has been coverage provided” under fire coverage, Hawaii Insurance Commissioner Gordon I. Ito said. He and the state insurance department are urging people to contact their insurance providers to check on coverage.

Nearly 300 people and dozens of pets remain at two American Red Cross of Hawaii emergency shelters, NBC affiliate KHNL reported, and those displaced face the challenge of finding temporary housing and driving hours out of their way.

Abaya, who fled her home in Leilani Estates, was unable to get renters insurance from three different companies because the area is in lava zone 1. The home where she and her family were staying is so far still standing, she said.

“I feel like we’re coming to terms that, you know, that house may be taken and you know that we definitely need to restart our lives,” Abaya said this week.

The family was staying in Oceanside, about two-and-a-half hours away, on Friday but Abaya and her 6-year-old son planned to stay in a tent on a friend’s property in Hilo — he goes to school in Hilo, and she works at the University of Hawaii in Hilo.

“Fingers crossed,” she said.

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In A One-Two Punch, Oklahoma Governor Angers LGBTQ and Guns Rights Activists

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin speaking at the National Governors Association in Washington. Fallin vetoed a bill late Friday that would have authorized adults to carry firearms without a permit or training. Fallin also signed off on a bill exempting faith-based agencies from placing children in adoption or foster care should that placement violate the agency’s religious beliefs.

Jose Luis Magana/AP

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Jose Luis Magana/AP

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin speaking at the National Governors Association in Washington. Fallin vetoed a bill late Friday that would have authorized adults to carry firearms without a permit or training. Fallin also signed off on a bill exempting faith-based agencies from placing children in adoption or foster care should that placement violate the agency’s religious beliefs.

Jose Luis Magana/AP

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin managed to anger both gun rights and LGBTQ rights activists late Friday with two separate actions.

Gun Bill

In a rare blow to the National Rifle Association, Fallin vetoed a bill that would have loosened gun laws in the conservative state. Had it passed, SB 1212 would have allowed gun owners to carry a firearm — either open or concealed, loaded or unloaded — without a state license or permit. About a dozen states have passed similar so-called “constitutional carry” laws.

Instead, Fallin sided with law enforcement officials, who opposed the bill because of its loosening of training requirements, officer safety concerns, and a reduced level of background checks.

In a statement, the Republican governor reiterated her support for the Second Amendment, and noted the bill would have scrapped the requirement for gun owners to complete a safety and training course and demonstrating “competency” with a pistol before carrying a gun in public.

“Again, I believe the firearms laws we currently have in place are effective, appropriate and minimal, and serve to reassure our citizens that people who are carrying handguns in this state are qualified to do so.”

Fallin added that she had previously signed both concealed-carry and open-carry legislation.

The bill had the support of state republicans and the NRA. NRA Executive Director Chris Cox said in a statement that SB 1212 “was an important piece of self-defense legislation,” and said Fallin’s veto violates her promises to NRA members when she ran for reelection. “Make no mistake, this temporary setback will be rectified when Oklahoma residents elect a new, and genuinely pro-Second Amendment governor.”

Fallin is in the final months of her second term as governor. She will not seek reelection because of term limits.

Kathy Renbarger’s service dog sits at her feet as she holds a pro-gun sign at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City on Monday, as a small group of gun rights supporters rallied outside Governor Mary Fallin’s office Monday, urging her to sign SB 2240. Falliin vetoed the bill late Friday, which would allow adults to carry handguns without a permit.

Sue Ogrocki/AP

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Kathy Renbarger’s service dog sits at her feet as she holds a pro-gun sign at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City on Monday, as a small group of gun rights supporters rallied outside Governor Mary Fallin’s office Monday, urging her to sign SB 2240. Falliin vetoed the bill late Friday, which would allow adults to carry handguns without a permit.

Sue Ogrocki/AP

Republican Senator Nathan Dahm, who wrote the bill, said he was disappointed by the veto, but “not surprised.” Dahm, who is running for Congress, said in a video on Facebook that what he called RINO’s, Republican In Name Only, who are elected into office are “either drinking the Kool-Aid or the swamp water.” The current requirements, he said “are a burden to the poor and elderly who should be afforded the right to defend themselves without having to pay the government to do so.”

Oklahoma’s legislative session has ended, so any further action over the bill will have to wait until next year.

Adoption Bill

In a second move late Friday night, Governor Mary Fallin signed into law a bill angering LGBTQ rights supporters. The so-called adoption bill allows private child-placement agencies to deny the placement of a child in foster care or adoption if that placement would “violate the agency’s written religious or moral convictions or policies.”

Fallin issued a statement saying the agencies would not be required to “perform, assist, counsel, recommend, consent to, refer, or participate” in a placement that would violate their written policy.

“SB 1140 allows faith-based agencies that contract with Oklahoma to continue to operate in accordance with their beliefs. In a day and time when diversity is becoming a core value to society because it will lead to more options, we should recognize its value for serving Oklahoma also because it leads to more options for loving homes to serve Oklahoma children. Other states that have declined the protection to faith-based agencies have seen these agencies close their doors, leaving less options for successful placement of children who need loving parents.”

She added that the number of children under state custody has been reduced by 21 percent during her time as governor, due to the cooperation of public-private agencies, “some of which are faith-based.”

According to the Oklahoman, several Oklahoma faith leaders supported the bill, citing concern over protection of religious freedom and advocating it as “proactive and similar to legislation that has been passed in other states like Texas, Virginia and South Dakota.”

But not all faith leaders agreed. According to the Family Equality Council, more than 100 religious leaders signed a letter urging for its veto.

Senate Democrats said said the move would have negative impacts:

JoDee Winterhof, Senior Vice President of Policy and Political Affairs at the Human Rights Campaign calls the move “shameful,” and says the bill signs discrimination into law, targets children and turns away qualified Oklahomans seeking to care for a child in need:

“including LGBTQ couples, interfaith couples, single parents, married couples in which one prospective parent has previously been divorced, or other parents to whom the agency has a religious objection. The bill is now the first anti-LGBTQ state bill signed into law in the country this year.

Americans United has threatened to sue Oklahoma over the bill, saying it has taken similar actions in other states.

The bill is to take effect November 1st.

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