2 hours, 28 minutes ago
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U.S. National - AP |
Posted on 10/02/2004 1:36:54 PM PDT by nwctwx
Edited on 10/02/2004 1:43:12 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
By PEGGY ANDERSEN, Associated Press Writer
SEATTLE - Government seismologists raised the alert level for Mount St. Helens on Saturday after its second steam eruption in two days, saying the next blast could threaten life and property in the remote area near the volcano.
The hundreds of visitors at the Johnston Ridge Observatory just five miles from Mount St. Helens were asked to leave. They went quickly to their cars and drove from the scene.
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2 hours, 28 minutes ago
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By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS, Associated Press Writer
PULLMAN, Wash. - Glenn Johnson remembers running outside with canisters to catch some of the volcanic ash that began falling on Pullman after Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980. He wanted a souvenir. "Little did I know I would be shoveling ash for a week and a half," recalled Johnson, now mayor of this town near the Idaho state line.
Across the Northwest, veterans of the 1980 eruption were keeping a wary eye on the volcano as it ominously rocked with earthquakes, then belched a plume of steam and ash into the sky around noon on Friday. Experts said the small eruption may not be the last.
"The history of the volcano suggests it could be an opening salvo and we'll see more events like this," said Jeff Wynn, the chief scientist for volcano hazards at the federal Cascade Volcano Observatory. He called Friday's brief eruption a "throat-clearing."
The 1980 eruption killed 57 people, mostly clustered near the mountain, and volcanic activity continued until 1986.
Much of the cement-like ash fell on eastern Washington, northern Idaho and western Montana as thousands of travelers became stranded. Schools and businesses closed. Mountains of ash had to be moved and dumped.
In an effort to be better prepared this time, local governments across the region have been reviewing their disaster plans. The state Emergency Management Division, much maligned for poor performance in 1980, activated its Emergency Operations Center Wednesday and will keep it staffed round-the-clock, spokesman Rob Harper said.
Officials hope to avoid a repeat of the events that started at 8:32 a.m. on Sunday, May 18, 1980.
Shaken by an earthquake, the north face of the mountain collapsed in a massive rock debris avalanche. A mushroom-shaped column of ash rose thousands of feet skyward and drifted downwind, dumping more than 520 million tons of dark, gray ash from Yakima to Bozeman, Mont.
The eruption lasted 9 hours.
The ash turned day into night. Grocery stores ran out of food. Surgical masks to cover the nose and mouth were in short supply. There were 2,500 people stranded in the town of Ritzville by 5 to 7 inches of ash.
Ash weighed heavily on roofs, forcing residents to shovel it off. Communities struggled to find places to dump it all.
Patty Phillips was riding a motorcycle from Spokane west to Moses Lake, and was forced by the ash to hunker down for two days in the small town of Davenport.
Now she lives in Lind, a tiny town about 75 miles southwest of Spokane that has a wry highway sign proclaiming "Drop in, Mount St. Helens did."
Phillips is not too worried about the new rumblings from the volcano, but she isn't taking any chances.
"I asked my husband to stock up with milk," she said Thursday, remembering that commodity was in short supply in grocery stores after the last eruption.
Susan Cuff still has a small jar of ash she collected as a souvenir when she was a college student at the University of Montana in Missoula.
"I stayed home and watched it fall like snow," said Cuff, now the spokeswoman for the health department in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. After the eruption, there were persistent rumors the ash might become acid when mixed with water. People worried about breathing it into their lungs. They weren't sure if they should use water to wash off the ash, or push it off roofs and vehicles with brooms. The fine ash was hard on motor vehicles, clogging air filters, scratching windshields, and mucking up bearings. Six Spokane city buses burned up their engines within two days. Cuff said officials are better prepared this time to warn people with respiratory problems to stay inside, and not to operate motor vehicles because the ash can damage the engine. State officials insist that modern communication systems and emergency plans will make them better prepared if Mount St. Helens erupts again. Still, Johnson's enduring memory of the 1980 eruption was that emergency management news was very slow coming out of the state capital, leaving communities to fend for themselves. "There's a lot of silent hope that it all blows on Olympia because we got no help from them last time," Johnson said. ___ On the Net: Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network: http://www.pnsn.org/HELENS/welcome.html
Yeah. The suspense is killing me.
I wonder what a magma flow, if it happens, would look like after dark?
Wish someone would post a picture of Mt. Etna which is sending hot lava down the mountain side. Saw it on TV last night and it was awesome.
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This volcano stands to be well documented video-wise.
Grazie!
"Anticipation, anticipa-a-tion...."
What we really need are some world class monsters on the mountain though.
"Just thought I'd pop in to say that Mt. St. Helens is in WASHINGTON. Lots of folks think it's in Oregon, and many more think it's near Seattle, but it is much farther south than Seattle."
I think people get confused because it is twice as close to Portland than it is to Seattle.
I was up on Silver Star Mountain near the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge and about 30 miles south of MSH today. I could see St. Helens, Rainier, Adams and Hood all from one spot. I would of been able to see Jefferson and possibly Mt. Washington and the Three Sisters but it was very hazy out today.
Prego! :)
Ok, so if Rainier blows, since I'm closer to that one, can I blame Shrillary?
So then. I'm back...and it appears nothing has happened???
Great graphic!!
What are you smoking, Chena? Seattle is about 90 miles north as the crow flies from St. Helens. Vancouver is about 110 miles, as that crow flies again NORTH of Seattle.
Don't know if you need a map or a long stay in rehab...
It's Bush fault
It's Bush fault
LOL!!!!
So then. I'm back...and it appears nothing has happened???
Oh lots of things have happened. Nothing new about the Volcano, though. =)
nothing yet. I know as soon as I go to bed, its gonna blow.
Lots of things, huh?
Well......shucks. I missed it. I'm reading the Go to Hell Traitors thread...I REALLY dislike (to put it SO mildly), the left.
These people are dirty, evil, vile people.
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