Former Bay Area residents chased from their home by Hawaii volcano

Byby Cornell Barnard KGO logo
Sunday, May 6, 2018
Former Bay Area residents chased from their home by volcano in Hawaii
Thousands of residents on Hawaii's big island are still under mandatory evacuation orders. They are now facing a triple threat of natural disasters; earthquakes, volcanic activity and toxic gas.

Thousands of residents on Hawaii's big island are still under mandatory evacuation orders. They are now facing a triple threat of natural disasters - earthquakes, volcanic activity and toxic gas.

Zoe and Kelena Kealoha recently moved to the big island from Santa Rosa where they survived the North Bay wildfires. But the couple and their two young daughters have now been forced to leave their new home in the shadow of the Kilauea Volcano.

"It's hard to know how to feel and what to expect, it's still so unpredictable," said evacuee Kelena Kealoha.

RELATED: Volcanic eruption endangers homes, lives in Hawaii

Thousands of people are still without power days after an intense volcanic eruption followed by the island's biggest earthquake in 43 years. Aftershocks have been nonstop.

"There's a lot of earthquakes every couple of minutes and lots of shaking, it's very hard to sleep," said Zoe Kealoha.

Kelena caught dramatic video on his cell phone of a volcanic fissure opening up 200 feet from his driveway spewing lava and toxic gas.

RELATED: Hawaii shaken by 6.9 earthquake as Kilauea eruption threatens residential neighborhood

"it sounded like a jet engine on a freight train driving through pane after pane of glass, so loud," Kealoha added.

The family along with thousands of others do not know when they will be allowed to return to their homes, for now it's too dangerous.