The entire lower Puna area is open to residents only to facilitate evacuation should it become necessary. The main road into the area is suffering from massive cracking and SO₂ emissions. The other main road is only a hundred meters or so from one of the inactive lava flows. One of the minor connecting roads is now buried under lava, and the final one is an unpaved dirt road.

The nearby ocean is closed off to boats due to laze (that's steam mixed with hydrochloric acid and glass shards) hazard.