Scenes from the Kilauea disaster, Hawaiians muster ohana

USGS

An eruption along one lava flow going through the Leilani Estates community.

(UPDATED May 17, 8:30 PST)

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake shook the volcano's main caldera of Kilauea Volcano, damaging roads and buildings in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park and nearby communities. Earlier, ash plumes led to an aviation red alert and raised the threat of acid rain and volcanic smog or "vog" from toxic sulfur dioxide gas that spews forth from the earth along with the lava.

After two weeks of very active volcanic eruptions, new lava flows and fissures emitting noxious gases, Kilauea shows no signs of abating. The largest emission occurred Tuesday (May 16) spewing ashes and gas 1200 feet into the air. Kilauea's activity also created a 4.4 earthquake prompting scientists to issue a red alert warning.

United States Geological Survey scientists from the Hawaii Volcano Observatory still say a massive eruption is still a possibiity. Located on the eastern side of the Big Island, about 2000 people have been evacuated and thousands more remain alert to leave their homes if necessary.

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Leilani Abaya and Kalani Strong thought they had found paradise when they moved to their home in Leilani Estates six months ago.

This week, they are packing up precious pictures, kitchen supplies and their kids' toys.

"There was a few times while we were down there where the sounds coming from the eruption was so enormous that it just stopped all of us that was there in our tracks," she said.

"One moment you break down crying, the next you're just counting your blessings and hugging those around you," Abaya tells KITV. "I feel it's been like that: a back and forth feeling since the moment we evacuated." 

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Kalani Strong and Leilani Abaya: 'Fingers crossed.'

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Filipina/American Ashley Kierkiewicz helped launch the Pu’uhonua o Puna, shortly after the first volcanic eruption. Pu'uhonua o Puna acts as a collection and distribution agency for those displaced from the Kilauea eruptions and lava flows.

“In times of distress and trauma, the community really just pulls in together to take care of each other,” said Kierkiewicz.

Under a cluster of tents at the edge of the affected area, there are stacks of food and clothing people have been donating, bringing them in on pickups and other vehicles. Most of the staff is made up of evacuees volunteering at the site. '

“Everything the you see here is a result of people’s kindness and generosity. We’re 100% community driven and funded,” she said.

Every day, their Facebook page announces what the center needs, as well as verified accounts of displaced families’ GoFundMe accounts.

SCREEN CAPTUR/ Balitang America

Ashley Kierkiewicz helped organize relief efforts.

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At the beloved Keaukaha General Store, is also acting as a relief center for the almost 2,000 evacuees. 

Aristotle Sacramento is ready do his part to help his displaced neighbors from Leilani Estates. “Natural disasters you just can’t do anything too much about, but stay positive, get together, and be one.”

Already and local gathering place, since the eruptions began, the general store has been piling up with goods and donations from locals.

While their location is on safer ground 20 miles away from the lava zone, the store is not immune from the possibility of projectiles, and the poor air quality, but — it won’t stop store owners and workers from taking in items seven days a week.

SCREEN CAPTURE / Balitang America

Aristotle Sacramento, right, has helped turn his store into an assistance center.

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Hawaii state Representative Joy San Buenaventura, who represents a district by the volcano, led an April 28 town hall on disaster preparedness in the Pahoa community center - now one of the main evacuation centers.

“It was fortuitous that we had scheduled the forum, and I hope people took preparedness to heart,” the Filipina/American lawmaker told Reuters. “What we couldn’t prepare for was the amount and concentration of sulfur dioxide in the air.”

“Their life is kind of put on pause, they don’t know if they should quit their jobs or whether or not they can move back home and keep their jobs. They don’t know whether or not if they have to quit school because they can’t get to school if the lava keeps cutting them off, or the lava will end, which is what happened 2014 and they can move back home.

While Leilani Estates gets most of the impact, San Buenaventura told Balitang America that she is concerned that continued activity may impact the livelihood of a large Filipino farming community.

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Hawaii state Rep. Joy San Beunaventura approaches a fissure splitting open a road.

“If it crosses this way, which is what they’re expecting because the riff zone goes this way and if it goes towards Kapoho village which is the most eastern portion of the state, if it goes that way which is expected then you’ll see the papaya farms over here being decimated.”

"We really don't know the extent of the damage and whether or not people can actually rebuild,"  San Buenaventura told NBC News. 

Another question, she said, "is whether or not you should rebuild" in areas more likely to see lava flows.

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Meanwhile, Abaya, who fled her home in Leilani Estates, was unable to get renters insurance from three different companies because the area is in lava zone 1. The home where she and her family were staying is so far still standing, she said.

"I feel like we're coming to terms that, you know, that house may be taken and you know that we definitely need to restart our lives," Abaya said this week.

Abaya and her family initially evacuated to Oceanside, about two-and-a-half hours away. Abaya and her 6-year-old son planned to stay in a tent on a friend's property in Hilo — he goes to school in Hilo, and she works at the University of Hawaii in Hilo.

"Fingers crossed," she said.

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