Updates: A Single Mother Of Two Young Children Lost Her Home To Lava From Hawaii's Volcano

What We Know So Far

• Hawaii's Kilauea volcano on the Big Island erupted Thursday, sending lava bursting through the ground near homes, closing roads, and prompting evacuations.
• More than 1,800 residents in the communities of Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens have been ordered to evacuate.
• The governor has declared a state of emergency and deployed the National Guard to help with evacuation efforts.
• The volcanic activity has triggered hundreds of earthquakes, the largest occurred Friday when a magnitude 6.9 struck the area. It was the strongest to hit the state in decades.
• At least 26 homes have been destroyed by the lava, officials said

Here are some of the most incredible photos from the volcano

People are sharing intense photos of lava and eruptions in their neighborhoods

As lava continues to move across roads — consuming houses and downing telephone polls — residents of Hawaii's Big Island are sharing their photographs, time-lapse videos, and texts with their families from the first hours of the explosion.

Ranchers could see plumes of blue smoke from their homes as the volcano first erupted Friday.

One resident saw lava eruptions as close as the end of his street.

Amber Makuakane, an elementary school teacher and single mother of two who lost her home to the lava from the Kilauea volcano, is raising funds to rebuild.

Makuakane, a widow, evacuated Friday with three trash bags of clothes, two towels, three blankets, a cooler with food, a riding lawn mower, her kids’ bikes, a grill, and important documents, according to her GoFundMe.

Her house in Leilani Estates was completely consumed by the molten rock, she told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

More than $28,000 has so far been raised toward a $100,000 goal.

Makuakane, 37, was born, raised, and graduated from Pahoa, her GoFundMe said. Her children, Alana and Aaron, are 6 and 4 years old, and her husband died two years ago.

“They don’t really understand,” she said. “My son keeps asking me, ‘Mommy when are we going to go home?’“

Initially, when the volcanic fissure opened across from her home, Makuakane thought everything looked fine, despite steam rising from the yard. Later, she confirmed that everything was lost to the lava.