Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense, partners to open tephra information center in Volcano

Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense and partners The Red Cross and Community Response Team will be available beginning today (March 11) in Volcano to provide residents with information about tephra cleanup following Episode 43 of the ongoing episodic summit eruption of Kīlauea volcano.

Staff will set up a tephra information center from noon to 4 p.m. today and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday (March 12) at Cooper Center.

Residents can visit the tephra information center to learn how to clean tephra from their homes, protect water catchment tanks and make requests for assistance.

Requests for assistance can also be made via the Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense website.

Episode 43 of sustained high lava fountaining — which reached up to 1,300 feet at one point — began at 9:17 a.m. Tuesday (March 10).

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports that volcanic glass Pele’s hair and fine volcanic ash was reported in Hilo and Puna. Larger tephra fell near the volcano, including particles up to 3 inches in diameter in Volcano Village and Mauna Loa Estates.

National Weather Service in Honolulu issued an ashfall advisory until 11 p.m. Tuesday for the national park and southeast Hawaiʻi Island, but shortly after canceled the advisory after Episode 43 ended shortly before 6:30 p.m. following 9 hours of fountaining and tephra fall had dissipated.

Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation was also working Tuesday night to reopen Highway 11 near Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. The road by 6:30 p.m. Tuesday was cleared up to mile marker 27.5 at Volcano Village.

The highway remained closed from mile 27 to mile 32 at Namakani Paio. Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense reported just after 8:30 p.m. that work would take another 4 hours to clear the tephra from the roadway.

NAS Swimming Pool and Charles “Sparky” Kawamoto Swim Stadium in Hilo and Pāhoa Community Aquatic Center are all closed until further notice to allow for cleaning up of volcanic materials from the pools.

Volcanic tephra, including ash, can irritate eyes, skin and the respiratory system. When cleaning tephra, it is recommended to wear masks, gloves and eye protection. Use caution when clearing rooftops.

Tephra also can clog and cause other problems with water catchment collection systems.

Temporarily disconnect the gutters feeding into the tank. Do not reconnect the system until the volcanic hazards in the air pass and ash and debris are washed off the roof, out of the gutters and the tank.

Additional resources

• Sign up for emergency alerts at the Hawai‘i County Civil Defense website
• How to protect yourself from breathing ash
• How to protect water catchment systems during volcanic activity
• Report falling tephra to Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
• Is Tephra Falling?
• Monitor air quality levels