LOS ANGELES — President Obama signed a Disaster Declaration for Public Assistance on Nov. 3 to provide financial aid to the small Hawaii town of Pahoa, which is threatened by a slow-moving lava flow.
Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie said in a release that he requested federal aid on Oct. 24 to supplement local emergency protective measures in response to the lava flow that has been inching toward the town since a new vent opened on Kilauea volcano on June 27. The flow has stalled a few hundred feet from Pahoa Village Road, but a local television station reports that breakouts are active 11 yards back from the front of the flow.
Measures undertaken by Hawaii County include the repair, restoration, and re-establishment of alternate routes in and out of affected communities, the accommodation of 900 children displaced by the lava flow and support to county for additional air quality monitoring, according to the governor's office.
The presidential declaration allows for emergency protective measures under the Public Assistance Program and Hazard Mitigation Grant Program to assist Hawaii County.
