{"id":532453,"date":"2026-03-19T08:30:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T08:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/532453\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T08:30:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T08:30:14","slug":"portions-of-hawaii-volcanoes-national-park-reopen-after-kona-low-storm-big-island-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/532453\/","title":{"rendered":"Portions of Hawai\u2018i Volcanoes National Park reopen after Kona low storm : Big Island Now"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>   March 18, 2026, 7:40 AM HST  <\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.bigislandnow.com\/file\/bigislandnow\/2026\/03\/park-cleanup-from-storm-featured.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/park-cleanup-from-storm-featured-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-428149\"\/><\/a>A National Park Service heavy equipment operator sweeps Crater Rim Drive East after scraping fallen trees and branches earlier. NPS Photo\/J.Wei<\/p>\n<p>Hawai\u02bbi Volcanoes National Park reopened some sections of the park this morning, but other areas remain closed until further notice because of major storm and volcanic impacts.<\/p>\n<p>A Kona low storm swept across the islands last week, where flooding and high winds hit the Kona and Ka\u2018\u016b Districts the hardest on Hawai\u2018i Island. On March 14, the storm knocked down trees and power lines and caused flooding and other damage in the national park, which is located in the Ka\u2018\u016b District.<\/p>\n<p>As of this morning, park staff have cleared roads, overlooks and trails from storm debris and will reopen additional areas when assessments are complete and it is safe to do so. The Kahuku Unit will reopen Thursday morning at 8 a.m.<\/p>\n<p>ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ADARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD<\/p>\n<p>The following areas are open:<\/p>\n<p>Crater Rim Drive West from the park entrance to Kilauea Military Camp<\/p>\n<p>The Welcome Center (opens at 9 a.m.)<\/p>\n<p>Volcano House, Volcano Art Center Gallery and most of Kilauea Military Camp<\/p>\n<p>Crater Rim Drive East<\/p>\n<p>N\u0101huku lava tube. The lights are out (bring a flashlight and be aware of the low ceiling)<\/p>\n<p>Chain of Craters Road to the coast<\/p>\n<p>Most backcountry areas not including Mauna Loa<\/p>\n<p>These areas remain closed:<\/p>\n<p>Mauna Loa Road beyond K\u012bpukapuaulu to all use including pedestrians and bicyclists<\/p>\n<p>Mauna Loa Summit, Mauna Loa Trail, Red Hill Cabin and Pu\u02bbu\u02bbula\u02bbula<\/p>\n<p>K\u012bpukapuaulu<\/p>\n<p>Crater Rim Drive West beyond Kilauea Military Camp to U\u0113kahuna, including bicycles and pedestrians<\/p>\n<p>Crater Rim Trail beyond Kilauea Military Camp to U\u0113kahuna<\/p>\n<p>N\u0101makanipaio Campground and trail to U\u0113kahuna<\/p>\n<p>Hilina Pali Road and Kulanaokuaiki Campground<\/p>\n<p>Park staff also continue to clear roads and overlooks blanketed by volcanic rock and ash fallout from the eruption on March 10. Lava fountains from episode 43 reached as high as 1,770 feet high and tephra fallout was widespread at the summit.<\/p>\n<p>ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD<\/p>\n<p>K\u012blauea Overlook and U\u0113kahuna received the most fallout and are closed.<\/p>\n<p>Check the park website for updates: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nps.gov\/hawaiivolcanoes\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">www.nps.gov\/hawaiivolcanoes<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"March 18, 2026, 7:40 AM HST A National Park Service heavy equipment operator sweeps Crater Rim Drive East&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":532454,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[16410,49170,192,232852,191890,63138,24030,6360,79,239243],"class_list":["post-532453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-cleanup","tag-closures","tag-environment","tag-eruption","tag-hawaii-volcanoes-national-park","tag-kilauea","tag-national-weather-service","tag-openings","tag-science","tag-storm-impacts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=532453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/532454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=532453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=532453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}