Lava destroys last house in Hawaii 'hood

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HONOLULU, March 4 (UPI) -- A lava flow has wiped out the last of 75 houses in a neighborhood on Hawaii's Big Island, the home's owner says.

Jack Thompson, 61, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser Saturday the royal Gardens subdivision home he lost the night before to lava from the Kilauea Volcano had been "paradise."

"There was no place like it. I had a beautiful house with beautiful landscaping," Thompson said. "It was a one-of-a-kind place and I'm happy to have had 30 good years there."

Now, he said, "there's nothing left but roofing."

"There's a huge flow where my living room used to be," he said. "Soon, there's going to be nothing left but rock, just like the rest of the subdivision."

Hawaii News Now reported there were 1,500 residential lots in the subdivision but just 75 homes were built before the volcano erupted in 1983. It took until Friday night for lava from the Puu Oo Crater 4 miles to finally take out Thompson's home.

"I was thinking that maybe I would dodge the bullet again ...," said Thompson.