Hawaii Volcano: Erupting Kilauea shoots magma balls, opens new fissures

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Volcanic activity in Hawaii isn't letting up. Nearly 20 fissures have opened since Kilauea started erupting almost two weeks ago. It's cost Hawaii's tourism industry millions of dollars.And has forced thousands of residents to evacuate their homes.

A river of red hot lava rolls toward the Pacific Ocean. The Kilauea volcano in Hawaii is lobbing magma balls, called "spatter bombs" hundreds of feet into the air.

JOHN DAVIDSON HAWAII RESIDENT "The first thing that I noticed was I heard what sounded like a jet turbine. It's almost like your life is on hold."

State officials say lava from the volcano has already destroyed dozens of structures and vehicles and there's no sign of things slowing down anytime soon.

WIL OKABE MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII "We have a situation in fissure 17 that lava is moving about 100 yards per hour."

Close to two-thousand people have been forced to evacuate. Lawmakers say it could be months before they can go back home.

ROBBIE McGRATH HAWAII RESIDENT "Still now, I'm surprisingly calm, even though it's really close to my house. I'm just feeling a lot of love and hope that my house will be ok."

The governor's office says it will cost about three-million dollars to protect residents over the next month.

NINA BERSAMINA HAWAII RESIDENT "Out of all of this destruction comes birth and new land and, you know, people's attitudes shift and they change, and then they're grateful and they appreciate being here more."

"It's Madame Pele's land, she can do anything she wants to do. And there's no cause whatsoever for anybody to complain about it. She was here long before we were."