After months of creeping through uninhabited areas of the Big Island, it reached Pahoa this week, crossing a residential street, burning down a garden shed and inching toward homes and a main road that goes through downtown. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory have the tools to monitor active volcanos to determine if an eruption is imminent and to forecast a lava flow's path. [...] lava is still a natural phenomenon, and much like a hurricane, some uncertainty remains. The Big Island's topography contributes to deviations in the lava's route, said volcanologist Loyc Vanderkluysen, as assistant professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia who earned a doctorate degree from the University of Hawaii. Residents have expressed anger at suggestions to divert the Kilauea flow, saying it's culturally insensitive to interfere with the will of Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess.