I'm hearing that some of you are tired of hearing about the volcano. My response.....tough. I'm not here to be your source of personal entertainment. If you mistakenly sign up to follow this blog, then perhaps it would be wise on your part to delete it. I maintain this blog to inform my friends about what I'm up to, plus it's morphed into sharing my own experiences of living on a Hawaiian homestead farm. The volcano is an integral piece of the experience. It affects me, it affects the farm. It may have an effect upon others who are considering moving to Big Island.
This volcanic eruption is affecting not only the home owners in the lava's path. Tragically they are losing all their worldly possessions, their stability, their way of life. But other non-house properties are also being rendered unusable for the purpose the owners bought them. They too are suffering a loss.
This eruption pursues a domino effect. And trickling effect.
...Displaced home owners need to go live elsewhere, which affects housing sales and rentals. Perhaps even resulting in people moving away off island, thus more airfare sales.
...property values in the area may plummet, at least sale value. Finding a buyer for your lot right now may be impossible unless one is willing to sell it for peanuts.
...property/house sales in the entire Puna district may be adversely affected for awhile.
...property insurance sales may improve right after this eruption ends, as other owners attempt to insure their assets from future eruptions. Others already with insurance may seek to upgrade their coverage. The thought of personal property loss has already prompted some people I know to video the interior of their homes and to get all their purchase receipts in order.
...displaced people who have lost everything may need to re-buy personal possessions, thus stores may see an increase in sales.
...any destroyed vehicles will need to be replaced, prompting more vehicle sales.
...non-displaced Puna residents may consider moving out of the area. This happened last eruption, with many ending up purchasing in the Ka'u district.
...this may be a wake up call for other people who haven't created an emergency plan for themselves yet.
..support services may see an increase in work as people repair damage after things settle down.
...repairs to county infrastructure, especially roads, will cause all sorts of added activity. Same for the electricity service.
...county officials may change their protocols for dealing with situations like this.
...first responders will analyze their efforts and possibly make changes.
...and who knows what else. A disaster always initiates a flurry of activity afterward.
On my own level with this farm, I'm learning about things that are not only affecting us right now with this event, but has put thoughts in our heads for the scenario if/when Mauna Loa erupts. Or if Kilauea has an explosive event.
...ash. We are quite a distance from Kilauea but we are seeing a fine, dusty ash fall that is evident in the car windshields each day. So it will affect water and air filters on the farm. Plus we are breathing this in, so we are conscious to avoid activity that causes heavy breathing. A Mauna Loa eruption could be far worse ash. If Kilauea summit blows, I suspect that the ashfall will be significant.
...acid rain. The pH has dropped to 4. This affects the catchment water, which if not addressed, will damage the plumbing. It also affects the soil to some degree. I haven't seen plant damage yet, but time will tell on this one. Could the pH be lower if Kilauea has a major summit eruption? Don't know. But that's one of the reasons I have extra pounds of baking soda on hand.
...vog. The farm is seeing a definite increase in vog. So far I haven't seen any foliage damage. People-wise, we close up the house at night, since that's when we experience the worst of the vog. Depending upon where Mauna Loa erupts and the wind, vog might be severe. The Kilauea summit goes, the vog could be far worse.
...I'm reviewing my bug out list. What to do about the animals. What I have important paper-wise in the bug out box. What support items to grab (cash & wallets, clothing, bedding, personal care items, food, food items (cook pots, plates, glasses, flatware, etc), medical supplies, guns & ammo, tools & generators, vehicles/trailers, etc). Having a list to follow will make bugging out less stressful, crazy, panicky. Plus we won't forget as much.
Some of my friends think I'm crazy to be living where I do. Of course, I don't agree, even though I might be crazy otherwise. (One of my personal philosophies is that's it's a benefit to be a little bit crazy. It gives me a lot more leeway going through life.) There are plenty of places in the US that I deem far more at risk for disasters. I am prepared to deal with these volcanoes. Most of us here are.
I've been avidly reading your volcano posts as they give a personal view of what is going on plus all the aerial maps. In fact today when you first posted about your spinach I was disappointed, ha. Keep it up!! Just ignore those who complain.
ReplyDeleteThank you, I've heard from others with similar comments. I tend to ignore the trolls, but sometimes I expose them. They need to either change their poor behavior or go away. For some reason, people think they have the right to be rude when chatting via the Internet. Guess the younger generation failed to learn adequate social behavior. Oh well. Sigh.
DeleteThanks for your comment!