The eruption of Mount St. Helens lasted more than just a day.
We celebrate on May 18 because that was the first BIG eruption. It is also when the landslide hollowed out the mountain, and many towns east of the event were covered in inches of ash. However, the volcano continued to erupt for months to come.
In 1980, I lived in Southern California and was in the second grade. I saw the eruption on TV and read about it in my Weekly Reader. I did travel to Washington state with my family a couple of summers later, and we visited Mount St. Helens. However, this eruption did not affect my life.
This was not true for my friend, fellow writer, and co-host of our podcast, All Things Indie. Kyle and his wife, Lorraine, were living in Lewis County, Washington, in May 1980. This area is west of Mount St. Helens. The May 18 eruption was just a neat display from his house, but an eruption a week later covered his town in ash.
He gave me some photos to share, and I am amazed by them. I can’t imagine the mess that he and Lorraine had to clean both inside and out. Ash is very light and coats everything like dirty snow that won’t melt. Plus, the air would have been filled with ultra-fine particles. Masks would not have been optional.
I wasn’t there, so I’m going to share Kyle’s photos without narration. If you want the first-hand story, check out his blog post.
We often see official photos taken by scientists and professional photographers. These are important, but sometimes you can get a better feel for an event by seeing it through the eyes of average citizens.
