On May 18th, 1980 the unthinkable happened. Mount St. Helens BLEW (and changed life for many). 57 people died as a result of the eruption.

I however was in Arizona and didn’t notice a thing. It didn’t even seem real to me that such a horrific catastrophe had occurred. I believe I had been there for a couple of weeks and then my folks called me and told me the devastating news. They described Whitefish Mt (my hometown that I’d just left )as dark and eerie and thick with ash and smoke. It was dreary and there were inches of ash on the cars downtown. My parents described people outside with scarves and bandanas over their faces nose and mouths.

I didn’t watch the news back in those days nor was I very concerned with the world at large but my folks certainly were-and most everything I learned about that terrifying volcano. I never realized at the time that volcanos of this magnitude actually took place in the United States but rather thought they only occurred far away across the ocean on some deserted island.

To learn more about that frightening day click here. By Cascades Volcano Observatory (USGS)