Reply #2: Hmmm...I seem to recall a lot of people getting very upset w/Dixie

[classof56]

because she made full and part-time residents who lived near the mountain evacuate a day or two before the big eruption. I clearly remember one evacuee who was interviewed on TV stating something like, "This mountain has done everything to us she can. We don't have anything to worry about." Many seemed to think Dixie was grandstanding and overstepping her authority. I believe that USGS had declared the areas around the mtn where people were camping, volcano watching, logging, etc., to be safe zones, which ended up being where most victims died. Nobody could have predicted the magnitude of the eruption. These are my recollections from my vantage point about 100 miles or so to the south of Mt. St. Helens, where the May 25 eruption covered us with a lot of ash. I haven't read what Parchman has to say, but again, I do recall that Gov. Ray was paying attention to the situation and made attempts to get folks out of harm's way.