Travel Bug: 31st Anniversary of Mt. St Helen's Eruption

16 Days and Counting!

I just saw that it is the 31st anniversary of the Mt. St. Helen's eruption. I just saw that it was the first eruption in the continental USA since 1915. I still remember it pretty well. We lived in Spokane Washington at the time. Not too close to Mt. St. Helens but close enough to be effected by all the ash. The news was reporting on Mt. St. Helens for weeks before the actual eruption.

(Before eruption)

On the day of the big eruption, we were on Fairchild AFB at the military Air Show. The dark cloud of ash started creeping across the sky towards us. Things started getting dark, base alert sirens went off and the ash started falling. It was like a snowstorm in May. They closed down the air show and sent everyone home. I remember that my dad was on alert that week and couldn't leave the base so we went home without him. My mom had to deal with everything on her own. She'd be out shoveling the ash with all the other dad's in the neighborhood that week.

I remember having to wear face masks for several days whenever we went outside. They had people come to the school and paint faces on the masks to try and make kids wear them. (I think I had a bunny or cat on mine but I'm not sure)

The ash made quite a mess for a long time. When it was dry it was too light and blew all over and when it got wet it set up like cement. Not very fun to clean up.

While looking for pictures I found out that 57 people and thousands of animals were killed in the eruption. It also caused damages totaling over $1 Billion. Ash from the eruption was found in 11 different states. The original landslide from Mt. St. Helens moved at 110 to 155 mpr and most traveled about 13 miles down to the North Fork Toutle River. The landslide filled the river valley approx. 600 feet deep with debris.