What Now?
Cover
Ka’u, Hawai’i, August 26–Disaster struck this district of Hawai’i Island today as a massive cloud of volcanic gas and particulate matter–known as “vog”–poured from Kilauea’s Halema’uma’u crater for the 167th consecutive day, frightening residents, threatening livelihood, and sending residents and visitors indoors with complaints of respiratory difficulties. Officials struggled to come to terms with the scale of the impact as information on health and economic costs trickled in.
A similar catastrophe was expected to hit tomorrow, as it has each day since March 12. Agriculture Secretary Edward Schafer has signed a disaster designation–farmers await a presidential declaration to free up additional resources.
Across the southern portion of the island, residents reported headaches, respiratory problems and other conditions while shopkeepers sold out of vog-related remedies. In the hard-hit community of Ocean View, farmers spoke of their businesses in the past tense; others refused to speak at all, concerned that doing so would frighten buyers.
The most glaring consequence to emerge to date from Kilauea’s latest outburst is uncertainty. While residents searched for ways to return to normal living, officials said it was still too early to say what the vog’s effects may be, how long they will last and whether the island will ever be the same. The volcano continued to churn out gases by the ton, all that was certain is that life in the southern half of the island has changed, if perhaps not permanently, then unquestionably for the worse.
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