"The molten lava on the island of Hawaii has destroyed what officials said may be hundreds of homes, including a vacation home of the county’s mayor, Harry Kim, as a spewing vent has sent a wide, slow-moving river of lava into a residential community and the sea beyond it on the island’s east side.

The lava flow, which has destroyed homes in the community of Kapoho and filled in an ocean bay known for snorkeling and tidal pools, is coming from a nearby fissure that has spouted a fountain of lava that has reached as high as 250 feet in recent days. Janet Snyder, a spokeswoman for Hawaii County, said that officials believed that hundreds of homes in the Kapoho Beach Lots and Vacationland areas had been destroyed overnight, adding to a confirmed toll of 117 homes from Monday.

“Nobody knows what comes next as far as the lava goes,” Snyder told The Washington Post."

Eli Rosenberg reports for the Washington Post June 5, 2018. [2]