After the volcanic eruption on La Palma, the lava slowly moves towards the sea. And because there are simply too many curious people who want to see it, the police have to close a tunnel
Thomas Klaffke is currently on his way to the Mirador del Time. This is a restaurant near La Punta in the west of La Palma at an altitude of about 500 meters. From here you have a very good view of the as yet nameless volcano, which erupted on Sunday afternoon in the south of the island, and of the sea at its feet. “That is of course important to me,” says Klaffke with a sigh in his voice, “because I want to know whether my house is still there.”
Klaffke, born in Wilhelmshaven, trained pastry chef, baker and croupier, came to La Palma almost 17 years ago and fell in love with the island. He was “shocked”, he says, “the Palmeros are wonderful people.” Eleven years ago he rented a house in Puerto de Naos, “a ruin”, he says, renovated the house with a romantic view of the Atlantic, moved in there himself and set up a couple of guest rooms. “Tom’s hut by the sea” is what he calls his accommodation. It has been empty since Sunday. What Klaffke did not suspect when he made this patch of island his home: that the mountain behind him would turn into a volcano.
Where does the ground break open?
Etna also spits
After a break of around three weeks , the Etna volcano in Sicily erupted again. On Tuesday, the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology registered increasing activity inside the mountain, an ash cloud rising 9,000 meters. Some lava flowed from the crater on the southeast side.
The 3,357 meter high volcano has been spewing lava and ash since February, around 50 eruptions have been registered. These are often spectacular to watch, but mostly harmless to surrounding villages and the large city of Catania to the south. dpa
Since Sunday afternoon, lava has been pouring out of nine openings towards the sea, exactly in the direction in which Klaffke’s “hut” is located. The lava stretches down the mountain towards the sea like a black paw. It is slowly moving downwards, more slowly than expected. She should have reached the coast by eight o’clock on Monday evening. On Tuesday afternoon she had still not found the sea. From the Mirador del Time, Klaffke tries to find the path of the lava. But it’s too hazy. He has to be patient until he is certain. “You can’t do anything,” he says. “Only: hope for the best – and fear the worst. There is no other way. “
By Monday evening, the lava had damaged or buried 166 buildings. There are impressive images of how the tenacious mass absorbs whole houses: an ancient animal that is as leisurely as it is voracious. One of the settlements through which the lava found its way towards the sea is called El Paraíso: Paradise. It’s not one anymore. Fortunately, people got to safety in time.
Like Thomas Klaffke: He stayed with friends in El Paso, about one and a half kilometers as the crow flies from the volcano and about the same height. “The lava doesn’t flow horizontally,” says Klaffke. But downhill. To where his house is. It is in the risk area, but within the risk area in the green, not in the red or orange area. The lava will likely move north past his house. But there is certainly nothing on this Tuesday. It is quite possible that the mountain will open up in other places and that its interior will be distributed over other areas.
What is happening there, the people want to see, the locals as well as the holiday guests. “A volcanic eruption like this is unique in a lifetime,” says Klaffke. On Monday, he reports, so many people from the east of the island, especially from the capital Santa Cruz de La Palma, drove over to the west that the police finally closed the tunnel that connects east and west. “That was unbelievable,” says Klaffke of the caravans that meandered up the winding roads. “On the one hand, you can understand that. On the other hand, it is a disaster for the rescue workers. I also found that very unpleasant. ”But some have also left the island: On Monday a ferry brought a good 350 holidaymakers over to Tenerife.
On Tuesday afternoon, Thomas Klaffke is back with his friends in El Paso. He doesn’t yet know what will become of his house down by the sea. At the moment it looks like the lava paw won’t move any further.
