Eruption : e·rup·tion : əˈrəpSH(ə)n : [noun} an explosion of steam and lava from a volcano.
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Thirty-nine years ago today,
May 18, 1980 at 08:32 am this morning,
Mount Saint Helens’ eruption began by blowing off 1,314′
from the summit and causing the biggest landslide in recorded history,
as the northwest face of the mountain sloughed away.
The explosive blast created a 600 degree pyroclastic flow
that traveled at 300 mph flattening everything in it’s path
blowing down 200 square miles of forest.
It melted glaciers and filled the Toutle, Cowlitz Rivers
with mud and debris all the way to the Columbia River
west of Portland at Longview where the international shipping channel
was clogged and vessel traffic was stopped until it could be cleared.
Sadly, 57 people died,
as well as destroying 250 homes,
47 bridges, 15 miles of railway lines and
185 miles of highways.
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I lived about 85 miles north at the time,
in the town of Kent and was awakened by the sound
of the blast of the mountain.
Over the next few years,
Mount Saint Helens continued to erupt,
though none of the subsequent eruptions were as violent as the first.
I have a large cardboard box of yellowed newspapers
containing the news reports of all the eruptions,
including the first.
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It was only God’s protection
that kept me from fighting for my life 39 years ago,
as a co-worker and I had planned to go camping at the Toutle River Campground
very near the mountain on the very weekend it blew up.
It was either hers or my being scheduled to work overtime
that kept us from being there on that very day,
thank you Lord,
for Your Divine protection!
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Today, my husband and I
live just 24 miles, north and slightly west of the mountain.
We are just 34 miles from Mount Rainier,
and about the same from Mount Adams,
but thankfully we are not in a lahar zone
from any of them.
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Mom & I were living in Port Angeles at the time. I remember the ash covering everything even on the peninsula.
I remember that day, but more so, it became a reality to us a week or so later as the ash clouds moved into southern Manitoba.