Any DUers near Mount Saint Helens?

[Catherine Vincent]

And are you being told to evacuate?

[fudge stripe cookays]

1. I've been curious about this.

Last time it went off it seemed like it lasted forever! (I was 13) Months and months and months of ash and crap polluting the air.

I was planning on trying to go to Seattle next May!

I remember seeing a show on PBS called "The Wrath of God" about lahars, the rivers of mud, ash, acid, etc that volcanoes create from the glacier lakes on the slopes when they collapse. Scary as hell!

There was one piece of footage they showed from one during the last eruption of MSH where the lahar hit a heavy concrete highway bridge, and with all the flotsam in the lahar and the immense pressure, the entire bridge was swept up in the current!

FSC

[DrWeird]

2. I can't help but think this is being over-hyped by the media.

Mt. St. Helens has had plenty of these little series of earthquakes over the years without an eruption.

A couple of years ago there was a small lahar on Mt. Rainer. Newscasters broadcasted it like it was the end of the world.

[The empressof all]

3. Not to worry

It is extremely unlikely that any eruption will impact any surrounding communities. They've closed several trails and visitors are told not to go near the crater.

My understanding that any eruption will be a small burp rather than an all out wallop like the last one.

[junker]

4. Am reasonably close = can see the mountain from the observation

platform I built 80 feet up in the top of a cedar here in front yard. Did it for astonomic views (get a larger view when out of our 'hole in the forest') but now using it to keep an eye peeled for the eruption.

Naw. They don't tell us to evacuate at all. Mostly no one lives in the mountains around st helens, and the road up to the remnants (sr505 to sr 504) runs up through the Toutle mountain range and is more or less not populated for the last 23 of its 30+ mile length. THere are a few humans in the areas around st helens, but not like a population center as such. Besides the warnigns now are for only a 20km kill zone...


Hell, even if they suspected that the mountain (Rainier, granther, o'soul) was gonna pop off, there is no real way to evacuate the western half of WA State. Our only outs are very limited pass roads and either I5 north or south. And the millions around Puget Sound are unlikely to even consider evacuation as we just don't think that way. Besides, those who traveled the passes in May of 80 during the last st helens popoff were trapped by ash for some time.


When one looks at it, puget sound is *not* well situated, vis-a-vis volcanos. We have the three sisters (rainier, st helens, baker) between puget sound and the Great Inland Empire (aka Eastern WA State), we also have a smallish volcano in the Olympic Mountains, and if that isn't enough, there is Mt Hood staring down our OR State friends and relatives. And they are all shaking their toes. So basically, if there is to be a lava party, we (humans in Puget Sound) will be 'crispy critters'.

But likely it will be a big ass blow out leading to a caldera. Which would mean all you easterners better get some masks cause that dust will head your way.

Oh well, we had a couple of 'felt' quakes here yesterday, and over 2000 quakes at st helens, and a bucket load of 4+ eq on the SE side of Rainier in last few months. So on a personal note, we are purchasing more masks AND stocking up on the basics). Now am going to connect up the hookah that will allow my old Isuzu trooper to suck its air through water to cleanse out the ash. It works, even if it looks really funny to be driving with large dryer vent hose wrapped all around the front of the car and a plastic water-filled washtub sloshing around on top.

By the way, also make sure you have masks for pets. Use duct tape and pop bottles and human masks to make see through masks for dogs that terminate in human masks so they can breathe and see and keep the dust out of the ears.



Edited to say that the time of mask to get is the 3M 8210 C which is a chemical / particulate mask that works well for humans and dogs.

FOr dogs cut the right size plastic pop bottle bottom and one side out until it slips easily over the doggies head. THen a couple of straps to hold it on by attaching to collar. AND then cut off the top of the pop bottle so that it still sticks out beyond doggies nose, but not by much. THen use duct tape to tape a mask over the cut top.
The dogs do not like it as a rule, but when presented with choking clouds of dust they stop trying to scratch it off.

good luck to all us bastards, both human and republicans, up here in pnw. And for that matter, down in CA, what with magma moving down there too.

[Parche]

5. mt st hell

I live in Portland, its about 50 miles away nothing
has happened yet.....waiting for the lava!!!