For farmers and ranchers in the area, it’s also taken away their livelihood.
Jan Anderson said lava buried her palm nursery and her husband’s orchid nursery in Kapoho, along with their vacation rental. Their home is still standing but inaccessible.
With an uncertain future, she’s now faced with selling the last of the palms she relocated to a friend’s nursery in Hawaiian Paradise Park when volcanic fissures started disrupting water supply to the area.
At the time, she didn’t think lava was going to make it to Kapoho, at least not so quickly.
“We thought at the very least long term, maybe it would be coming,” Anderson said, of the lava. “Nothing like what just happened. I don’t think anybody expected that.”
Eric Tanouye, president of the Hawaii Floriculture and Nursery Association, said at least a dozen nurseries are “seriously impacted,” whether by lava inundation or from sulfur dioxide emissions.