Oct 28, 2014 11:04 AM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

The Hawaiian village of Pahoa on the state's Big Island was evacuated Monday because lava flow from Kilauea was approaching local houses.

According to BBC News, the volcano has been erupting since 1983, but lava jus started flowing recently and is now within 100 yards from the nearest house in its way. A local cemetery has already fallen under the lava.

Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Darryl Oliveira told the Associated Press evacuated residents will be allowed to watch their houses be overtaken by lava for "closure" as well as to take photos for insurance purposes.

"You can only imagine the frustration as well as... despair they're going through," Oliveira said.

At approximately 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit, there is no hope to salvage whatever the lava touches, so residents are gathering whatever they can before leaving their homes behind.

"Crime is starting to pick up because a lot of people abandoned their houses. Two of my brother-in-laws' houses got ripped off," Matt Purvis, owner of the Tin Shack Bakery on Hawaii's Big Island, told CNN. "We can see the smoke and kind of a glow, especially at night."

The Bay Clinic is currently preparing for the possibility of residents not being able to reach them in cases of medical emergencies.

"We have not determined exactly where the mobile unit will go," Harold Wallace, the Bay Clinic's CEO, told CNN. "It's going to be based on where the flow ends up, logistics, traffic and we'll talk to civil defense.

"If for some reason someone can't get to our clinic, we will be there with the mobile unit," he said. There's going to be people who need prescriptions and more."

Some residents are still holding onto the hope that the lava flow will stop before reaching their homes.

"We are still praying," Imelda Raras told the AP, noting she and husband had somewhere to go if need be. "I hope our home will be spared."

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