(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday declared a slow-moving lava flow from the Pu'u O'o vent of the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii to be a major disaster, the White House said.
The declaration frees up federal money to help protect local communities from the lava flow, which began moving toward homes on the big island of Hawaii on June 27 and is threatening Pahoa village.
The leading edge of the flow has paused about 185 yards from Pahoa Village Road, the main thoroughfare through the town of about 800 residents at the site of an old sugar plantation
No homes have been destroyed and no injuries have been reported.
The flow remained active as of Monday but it had not advanced since last Thursday, a County of Hawaii Civil Defense message said. The statement added that elections would go ahead on Tuesday at polling stations in the area.
The U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said a finger of lava on Monday was trudging downslope, parallel to a larger flow that crossed onto a residential property last week before stalling.