Minute by Minute: The Eruption of Mount St. Helens

May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupts, the ground moved a little and then, my God, the entire

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ain took off, spitting rock and boiling ash, coming toward us like it was being shot with a shotgun, unleashing a deadly torrent of debris and mud. I felt him grab me, climb onto a log and he continued shouting for me to hold on and leaving behind a landscape of devastation and death, confusion. My priorities were rearranged that day. Watch 15 seconds. I will never leave my mind tonight,

minute

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. the

eruption

of Mount St. Helens on March 27, 1980 Southwest Washington State 6:02 a.m.

The sun rises over the Cascades

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ain range, a chain of volcanoes situated on the Pacific Fault Line Towering over the landscape is the 9,677-foot Mount St. Helens known for its beauty as the Mount Fuji of the United States, the volcano has Dormant for 123 years, hundreds of campers, hikers and photographers gather on the mountain for the weekend. It's also a work day for more than 300 forestry workers near Spirit Lake, less than 5 miles from the summit. US Forest Service Supervisor Kathy Anderson and her tree planting crew hear what sounds like a small explosion. What was common there because the private Timberlands in that area were road construction and other activities, so we assumed it had just been stump blasting or something, but in fact, Mount St Helens has awakened from its long slumber with a small steam

eruption

and Ash opening a 200 50t wide crater on the summit in a matter of minutes, the news reaches the Meno Park US Geological Survey office in California or USGS available that afternoon is the geologist.

Don Swanson, we quickly packed our bags and took the first flight to Portland despite the eruption, the logging companies in the area continue to work, the warehouse corporation grows and harvests trees for building materials and paper on over 68,000 acres of land at Mount St Helens. The day after the initial eruption, the company sent helicopter pilot Jess Hagerman to fly over the volcano right at the top. On the entire summit there was a small crater and there were large horizontal cracks around the mountain. USGS scientists are installing more monitoring equipment at their main observation post known as Cold Water 1.

The eruption has been minor but they see it as a precursor to a larger, potentially deadly event. One of them, a 30-year-old volcanologist named David Johnston, expresses his fears to a news network. crew is probably warming up very quickly and was probably good evidence that an eruption is likely US Forest Service puts up barricades closing the top of the mountain 40 residents who live closest Summit is evacuated underground Tremors cause Mount St. Helen's eruption appears imminent, Washington governor declares state of emergency because rapid evacuation may be necessary. He urges tourists and tourists to stay out of the area, but the warnings have the opposite effect and tourists arrive from all over the country.

Souvenir sellers. Hawk t-shirts. and bottles of real volcanic ash some volcano enthusiasts try to get as close as possible to the summit one of them is Robert Rogers a 29 year old radio technician with a passion for mountaineering makes a game outsmarting the sheriff's department I would drive and leave oh, Is it really dangerous up there? Oh yes, son, it's very dangerous. Well, do people try to sneak in? Yeah, we saw a guy there two mornings ago in a blue sleeping bag. Oh, really tell me, what did you do then? and they explained to me what they did to try to catch me because I was the guy in the blue sleeping bag for geologists, however, looking at the mountain is not a sport, you just didn't have time to do anything but eat, sleep and work.

The weather attracts record numbers of tourists and television news crews. Helicopters ferry reporters to the summit, ignoring warnings of danger. They are rewarded with 18 small bursts of steam and ash throughout the day. 4 weeks after initial eruption, scientists discover alarming bulge on northern side of mountain Magma rising within Mount St. Helens has found a blockage at the mouth of the volcano and is being expelled around it. Scientists like volcano hazard specialist Dan Miller explain the danger to emergency agencies, but little is done as the weeks go by. and nothing serious happened at Mount St Helens, it became increasingly difficult for us to convince the various agencies, both state federal and local, that something bad was about to happen over the next two weeks.

The Bulge on the north side of Mount St Helens. grows every day the mountain was moving at such a fast pace about 5T per day approximately horizontally just day after day after day after day officials finally heed the scientists' warnings and establish the so-called Red Zone, a security perimeter that extends 3 to 8 miles around the summit begin evacuating residents on the shores of Spirit Lake, less than 5 miles from the summit, an 84-year-old resident named Harry R Truman, no relation to Harry S Truman, He tells reporters that he has no plans to leave, that's my life. Spirit Lake and Mount St are my life friends, I've lived there for 50 years, it's a part of me, that mountain and that lake are a part of Truman and I'm a part of him.

Truman's defiance of authority makes him a popular hero. Overnight, May 1, 1980, a month has passed since the first eruption without another major event. The public's enthusiasm wanes, but the ominous bulge of the mountain continues to grow. The US Geological Survey installs a new Agua Fria observation post 2.5 m northeast of the summit. This one is 3 m closer to the volcano than the existing ones at Agua Fria 1 in ColdWater 1 Ro Finley, an assistant editor of the National Geographic magazine is interviewing photographer Reed Blackburn, 27, when the ground begins to shake. He looked at Reed without saying anything. nothing less with concern and said earthquake uh I think it's 4.5 the earthquake is just one of many that occur every day at the volcano but any of them could trigger an eruption Blackburn On Assignment with the Colombian newspaper of Vancouver is ready if the the mountain erupts is in a position where it can activate two remote-controlled cameras placed a mile from the summit a graduate student Manning Cold Water 2 is due to leave this weekend geologist Don Swanson and his colleague David Johnston have agreed to take turns filling in for him Dave said which was fine I'll do it by Saturday night if you can come Sunday and replace me May 17, 1980 8:00 a.m. m.

It has been more than a month and a half since the first eruption despite the fears of USGS scientists and many residents. Evacuees from the red zone are convinced that the crisis has passed. They meet at the roadblock closest to Spirit Lake. Tempers flare as they try to return to their homes. We are paying taxes and would like to use our property. I'm not. Fearful Governor Dixie Lee Ray relents and gives them permission to visit their homes today and again on Sunday they all had to sign waivers releasing the county from any blame for what may happen to them while they were inside the Red Zone checking their property on El Hermoso.

Day takes several campers to Washington Woods at Jericho Hall on the Toodle River, 25 miles west of Mount St Helens High School. The couple Venus Durgen and Rald Reon parked their car at a favorite fishing spot, there were no other people around us, so we just listened to the radio and sat down, rol has hidden a bottle of champagne deep in his cooler a gift surprise for Sunday night 6 M west of summit Ty Kerney, an amateur radio operator who volunteers to monitor the mountain for Washington state, receives a transmission from fellow volunteer Jerry Martin of Concrete Washington Martin has parked his Radio van at a perfect vantage point just 7 miles off the mountain's bulging north side traveling with his wife Lou and two young daughters, Tera, 3 months, and four.

Bonnie Mike Moore, 20, misses two camps. This was Bonnie's first backpacking trip. We wanted it to be something memorable for her. They find an ideal spot near the Green River, 13 miles north of Mount St. Helens, in bare Meadows, 14 miles northeast of The summit's amateur photographer, Gary Rosenquest, and a group of friends camped after dark, They made a big fire because of all the wood that was there and they just had a good time, telling stories, it was just a beautiful night. May 18, 1980 Swift Creek. 5:30 a.m. m., tree-planting team leader Kathy Anderson informs her team that they will abandon her site near Clearwater Creek and move to Swift Creek, 6 miles south of the summit.

I'm still not sure what made me think she was out of it. It's normal for us to stop working in one area and move on to another when we're not done. A member of her team, Cran Killpatrick, is surprised by her decision. We were actually going somewhere much closer to the mountain than where we were on Saturday. and potentially much more danger as the sun rises over Mount St Helens Jim Mankey and a three-man thinning team begin cutting saplings 13 miles from the summit 100m away at Yakama Washington airport, a Cessna 182 takes off on a reconnaissance flight Above the volcano on board is geologist Dorothy Stle.

It was her first time flying in a small plane and she was a little anxious about it, a little uneasy and not really knowing what to expect at the USGS office in Vancouver, 40 m from Mount St. Helens. The summit's geologist, Don Swanson, is waiting for his colleagues to arrive. People were going to bring me supplies that I could take live when I was on the Cold Water 2 volcano. Hazard Specialist Dan Miller begins the 2 hour trip to Cold Water 2 bringing supplies and parts for the two timelapse cameras. He drove to the battery shed and picked up all the batteries he had had on the charger overnight, almost 8 miles west of the summit.

Robert Rogers and his friend Francisco Flight We arrived at the Sheep Creek lookout. They just finished another illegal climb. They park near amateur radio operator Ty Kerney. He looks up and says, "Well, where were you guys this morning? We made up a story about driving. We didn't want to tell him. I had entered the Red Zone at 8:30 a.m., right above the summit, the geologist Dorothy Stle is taking pictures of the volcano we were flying over directly over the south crater wall at about 500 feet and as we went over the mountain I took pictures of Harry Truman Lodge Lou Moore is preparing breakfast at his family's camp in Green River.

Tara had been taken out of the store and sitting next to where Lou was working Bonnie was wandering I was wandering I was hanging out in the room with the seismographs we dropped John left with his unit and his team and they started planting their trees I was going up Interstate 5, we made a decision, we will make one last pass 1 mile below Mount St Helens, an earthquake measuring 5.1 on the RoR scale shakes the mountain which sets in motion a terrifying chain reaction. St. Helens erupts with explosive fury minute by minute and now again by the minute May 18, 1980 Mount St.

Helens Washington 8:32 a.m. m. an earthquake of magnitude 5.1 on the RoR scale shatters the In the center of Mount Saint Helens we began to see this enormous fracture open, it was as if you were cutting the mountain in half, not even the north side of the mountain began to shake seconds then like a zipper from east to west, these little brown detonations, poof. poof poof it crossed the top of the mountain all of a sudden I just looked up I heard a sound and I looked up and it was a tremendous sign the ground moved a little bit and then oh my god the whole mountain took off 25 seconds after the thing happened earthquake.

A large explosion explodes on the north face of Mount St Helens. Superheated gas shoots Rock and Ash more than 12 miles into the air. Dorothy St's plane is dodging deadly jets of hot gas and Ash, her pilot, is quick to think that he is taking the plane into a dive to try to win. speed to escape the explosion and look at the ground rising from below and think that he is going to crash this plane into the ground on a ridge less than 8 miles from the explosion. Robert Rogers runs to grab the camera from him. He goes back to the car, he opens up. the door, drop in a roll of unexposed film and start shooting really fast, click, click Jam.

I got six shots and my camera got stuck on bare Meadows, 14 miles northeast. Amateur photographer Gary Rosenquist takes his camera and takes 23 photos in just 30 seconds. I wasn't focusing on the viewfinder so I started taking pictures again and kept taking pictures until I ran out of film. David Johnston, who is at the Cold Water 2 observation base less than 6 miles from the explosion, sends radios to the USGS office in Vancouver, Washington. a short statement comes out Vancouver Vancouver this isall before the radio goes off while amateur radio operator Jerry Martin is transmitting from a ridge 2 miles further north North now we have a big slide coming from the west slope now we have a big Big eruption came out of the crater and another one opened in the west side.

Martin watches in horror as the USGS observation post at Cold Water 2 is swept away by the massive Slide, the entire BL heading northwest north approaching over the LGE toward me. I'm going to get out of here Jerry Martin says goodbye to someone he has never heard from again 8:33 a.m. two more huge explosions of gas and rock go off as the northwest side of the mountain crumbles the eruption covers an area of ​​230 M and dumps 200 feet of debris into Spirit Lake and onto Harry AR Truman killing him on the mountain Dorothy St.'s plane heading south and away from the explosion Dorothy looks back to see the top of the mountain torn apart by a force 500 times greater than the atomic bomb in Hiroshima we saw this huge explosion.

The cloud lifted and as it lifted there was a tremendous flash of lightning that rose tens of thousands of feet high in the cold water. 1 Camp 8 miles from the Summit photographer Reed Blackburn jumps into his car and shoots desperately trying to escape the Ash Cloud it is too late in seconds his car is engulfed Blackburn suffocates in 4 feet of scorching ash the wind is so strong that uproots 100t trees at a distance of up to 19 M At 8 m from the summit Francisco Valenzuela and Robert Rogers get into their vehicles and squeak our clothes it was like a gale it was just blowing it was like a freight train with 10,000 square wheels passing by, it was the noise loudest I've ever heard 6 miles south of the summit near Swift Creek cran Kilpatrick's Forest Service team is running for their lives Kilpatrick and Kathy Anderson are waiting in their truck at the top of the ridge ready to lead the evacuation can only hope to get their team out before the cloud of burning ash and steam engulfs them.

These things could be seen periodically shooting up the southern slope. They would come right at us if we had been within half a mile. Closer they would have tortured us. What Kilpatrick and his colleagues still don't realize is that if they had continued with their original plans to work on the north side of the mountain, they would all be dead, but the team is far from safe. Loaded with tools. They take a while to climb the steep slope to their vehicles. Kathy calls on her radio, throws all the equipment, let's get out of here. Minutes later, everyone gets to their trucks and drives to a Rendevous site where they wait for an observer to inform them of a safe evacuation route. plane you could see the debris passing overhead and we had lightning all around us.

USGS geologist Dan Miller is on Interstate 5, 15 miles southwest of the mountain, on his way to meet David Johnston at Cold Water 2 when he sees the eruption plume. I realized it immediately. That this was indeed a huge and very serious eruption, I quickly crossed the median of Interstate 5 and ran back to Vancouver, 13 miles north of the summit. Mike and Lou Moore and their daughters Tara, 3 months, and Tara, 4 years old. Old Bonnie looked up to see a tremendous cloud rising above the trees. Mike grabs the camera from her, the more pictures I took, the more apprehensive I became because the explosion was not going up but coming towards us as if it were being fired from a shotgun.

The ash. hot enough to burn skin on contact is descending the mountain at speeds of up to 300 mph 11 M Southwest of the summit Robert Rogers is in his car following Tai Kerney's truck down a winding mountain road the group is trying to escape from the cloud but in the increasingly thick Haze Rogers loses sight of the truck Kerney gets to safety but Rogers and Valenzuela are trapped in Ash's whirlpool. The second time we passed this gigantic Caterpillar tractor in the dark we knew we were lost high above them. Darthy Stofle is in a small plane hoping to put some distance between her and the mountain, we start to see this huge group of planes racing towards the mountain and we think, just like the media, they know they will get there the fastest As we try to leave Stael's land 40 m away in Portland, 13 miles north of the summit, the Moore family is hit by a shock wave, we feel a squeeze on our bodies, a very strong squeeze and L said this didn't happen to her. but my ears popped repeatedly just 40m away, in Vancouver, the phone rings and in National Geographic editor Ro Finley's hotel room, it was Ralph Perry, one of our contract photographers, saying: fight if you go out for the door of your motel and you look northeast.

Mount St. Helens can be seen filling the sky at his home in Kelo, Washington. Ray Pleasant, a manager at the Corporation's warehouse helicopter base, is still in bed when he hears a knock on our neighbor's door, she used to monitor the CV or scanner and she discovered that the mountain had stopped, although their logging teams are outside the Red Zone. Pleasant needs all available helicopters in the air for possible rescues. He immediately heads to the nearest base on a small farm 37 miles from the summit. Jess Hagerman, a captain in the National Guard is getting ready to go to church, they called me to call and find out how many people we had that were able to fly.

Hagerman immediately heads to the Air National Guard base at Fort Lewis, 20 miles away, the vertical plume of ash and steam continuing. to expand upward and outward 13 M away at Green River Camp. Ash begins to rain on the Moore family. They take shelter in a dilapidated Hunter Shack, but it offers little protection. Mike and Lum More's main concern is keeping their daughters alive. We gave Bonnie an eager boss. that had been moistened with water from a canteen which wasn't going to work for Tara, she's 3 months old, so what we did was wrap her in blankets at one point, Lou came over and pinched her because she was so quiet, he thought.

She was dead and she wanted me to cry to show that she was not dead and we all felt very relieved to hear that cry. The intense heat from the volcano melts the mountain's ice sheet sending 46 billion gallons of water into the valley below the landslides. heated to 91° and moving at 90 mph Racing down the mountain 25 miles from the summit along the south fork of the Toodle River High school sweethearts R Reon and Venus Durgen hear the sound of warning sirens We just got out the tent from the stakes and ran towards the car, Ral revs the engine of his old mobile, but it is too late, the swollen Toodle River now rushes towards them carrying logs and debris from the nearby sawmills, it surrounded the car and picked up and at that moment the first instinct was to get out of the car but there was no place to run their car is engulfed by the flood they jump from the vehicle into the swirling mass I was lucky enough to land on a large log and Venus stood right between the one I landed in another and disappeared instantly, it's like I thought I was dead, the couple and hundreds of others on the mountain fight to survive on A&E and now we're back minute by minute May 18, 1980 Mount St Helens Washington 90 1am.

Mount St Helens has exploded with the force of 10 megatons of TNT a cloud of scorching ash mushrooms 15m into the air 25m away Along the South Fork of the Tle River, campers R Reon and Venus Durgen have washed away by a deluge of mud and logs. Venus loses sight of r as she is sucked into the swamp. I heard him scream in terror. I kept my hands and head above the water and at one point two logs started pinching my wrist. I thought I was going to lose my arm or hand. The pain was unbearable and at that moment I thought it was over.

Desperately clinging to a log, R sees Venus's hand extending between two huge pieces of wood, he throws himself towards her as the logs close around him, moving up, down and to the sides and not just like removing the skin from her chin, I felt myself climb onto a log and he kept shouting for me to hold on, finally, after a terrifying melong ride, he maneuvered Venus through the logs and on the banks of the river. Venus's doll is destroyed. and her right forearm is stripped down to the muscle, she is going into shock and R knows that her only chance of survival is to keep moving.

They make their way through the thick forest in hopes of finding a way out. Walking back through that was hell. I heard several helicopters flying overhead, so at that moment I wanted to get out of that group of heavy trees where they would find me 9 miles from the summit. Tree planters could kill Patrick and Kathy Anderson. They've been waiting for 30 minutes with a forest service convoy. trucks, they expect an observation plane to arrive soon to scout a safe route off the mountain, they are in constant danger of being engulfed by Ash in flames while the team waits, the tension rises to the breaking point, there is a guy who started to run and, in fact, I literally had to grab him and throw him back into the truck.

They beat him mainly just to bring him back to his senses. Finally word comes over the radio that the ash is still too thick to allow an observation plane to fly into their area. They will have to find their own way out by crossing the bridge of the already swollen Swift Creek. I ran towards the bridge. What I wanted to do is see if a mudflow was coming down Swift Creek. None came, so. I pointed everyone to the other side of the bridge. Ash is raining heavily as Kilpatrick jumps into the last vehicle of the convoy just over the bridge.

His truck stops. This truck in front of us just disappears into the cloud. We didn't see anyone. It was like, "Oh my God, we're alone here," Anderson of Kil Patrick radio and she rushes back to pick him up. The convoy slowly descends the mountain towards safety 2 miles from the summit, geologist Don Swanson is flying in a forest service plane looking for his colleague David Johnston there was not much chance that Dave or anyone else in the area would survive and headed towards the mountain in a Cessna. Ro Finley hopes to communicate with photographer Reed Blackburn on ColdWater 1.

He had flown over bombed cities. and burning during the war, but this was much more impressive, the wind changes and the ash cloud heads east, a welcome sight for the Moore family hiding in an old shack 13 miles north of the volcano. I decided it was time to go out and see what I could see outside, unfortunately the door was blocked with 6 inches of Ash and required a bit of kicking to get it open. I could make out the outline of a tree and that's when I started to feel pretty good. Lou Moore carries 3-month-old Tara while Mike Moore picks up 4-year-old Bonnie and shoulders his backpack containing store food and survival gear on a logging road 8 miles from the summit .

Robert Rogers and Francisco Valenzuela are lost in the fog. of Ash, then far behind us, to the west, is this little point of light, that little point of light got bigger and bigger as the air slowly cleared. Rogers and Valenzuela can navigate their way out of the ash cloud reaching Yakama Washington, 97 m to the northeast. Although it is no longer hot, the ash makes it difficult to breathe, this is, of course, the source of the big problem, the accumulation of volcanic ash. I would say the buildup is now at least 3/4 inch. Residents must remove the shovel. roofs to prevent them from collapsing a weather satellite captures photographs of the ash cloud as it spreads across Washington state and reaches Spokan 200 thousand northeast of Mount St Helens.

It took almost 3 hours for the seriously injured campers, Reon and Venus Durgen, to arrive. Fighting through the dense forest I knew we had to go upstream because we floated under the bridge. I figured if anyone was going to be somewhere they would be there and there was a sheriff's car on that bridge. The sheriff's deputy radios for an almost helicopter evacuation. 4 hours after the first explosion, the eruption is still strong. Fresh magma rose and escaped from the volcano. Jets of burning gas sweep the slopes of Mount St. Helens at speeds of up to 80 M per hour. 11 M from the summit Mike Moore and his wife Lou try to carry their young daughters to safety loaded with survival equipment Mike reaches an area of ​​downed trees 6 to 12 feet in diameter He couldn't carry Bonnie Lou couldn't carry her because she had Tara in her backpack and Bonnie was basically alone among us, she's a pretty tough girl, but for a 4 year old you're asking a lot, the Moors fight to keep their children alive while rescuers frantically search for stranded victims, minute by minute, now back to the minute. per minute May 18, 1980 Mount St Helens Washington 12:00 p.m. the mountain has been erupting for 3 and a half hours sending a total of490 tons of ash hurtling over an area almost the size of West Virginia.

Emergency services estimate that at least 3 people are missing and seven are confirmed dead. The hospitals are full of wounded. Suffering from ash inhalation and burns. Rescuers searching for survivors find that they can't recognize a single landmark where L is. I can't believe she camped in this area. The rescue operation is dangerous. The teams are getting tired. machinery needs careful maintenance Helicopter pilot Ray Pleasant and his crew respond to an emergency call near the Toodle River when they arrive they find Ral Reon and his girlfriend Venus Durgen, seriously injured, the crew jump out and carry Venus into The Pilot Ray Pleasant retreats at the controls and heads out of danger I was able to look back.

I just saw this brown body, a little brown body in the back with big eyes looking at me and I got scared. A second helicopter takes Reon out and the helicopters fly across the river. To the town of Toodle, where a medical evacuation unit has been set up at a school 14 miles from the summit, the ash is so thick it's nearly impossible to see the ground. National Guard helicopter pilot Jess Hagerman flies his O58 back and forth over the terrain looking for For Jim Scank and his forestry team, we suddenly look down and see some kind of car or truck there and then we turn around one thing you could see that were footprints in the ashes, so you know.

You probably have some survivors, the footprints diverge indicating that the four men split into two groups. Hagerman leaves his helicopter and follows a group until he locates two of the missing men, one of the people stands up and waves his arms and then you know. he fell again and the other guy never really got off the ground. Hagerman's crew chief, Randy Font, volunteers to go down after the two men even though he has no idea what awaits him. This thing could have been 150° Fahr. We had no idea, but anyway he gets out of the helicopter, skids and jumps into this thing.

The ashes had cooled considerably, but it was boiling when it exploded over the stranded men. One of the foresters. Jim Schank is burned out. About half his body, his co-worker is lying on the ground near him, barely able to breathe. Hagerman lands the helicopter and rushes through 8 inches of Ash's fine talcum powder to help his crew chief. Evacuating the badly burned man when you touched his clothes was all. It was like you burned your clothes with an iron and you just threw them like that and you just destroyed them. The two men are taken to nearby Long View Hospital, where they are treated for second- and third-degree burns and ash inhalation.

GuardThe helicopter finds the third crew member sitting high in a tree in the middle of a mudflow. He is rushed to the hospital, but the crew leader is still missing. Venus Durgen is at Long View Hospital receiving medical attention. Her wounds are full. Ash, the nurses were crying because they had to soak me in a tub of water and take sponges and scrape my wounds and when the doctor came in he said you didn't do a good job, they had to take me back in a second. time and they had to give me morphine at that moment because I was in a lot of pain.

Robert Rogers walks out of the woods and stops on the I5 freeway to look toward the volcano 25 miles away. Everyone was stopped on the highway looking at the volcano saying look at it, it's covered in ash and I drove back to Portland and that was it now the pressure inside the volcano is relieved the eruption begins to gradually subside 200 square miles of forest have been destroyed equipment heavy lies thrown like toys 9 and a half hours after the eruption Rald Reon, Venus Durán's boyfriend, is discharged from Long View Hospital and receives the care of his parents, they find a hotel to spend the night and Ral's father he tries to clean more ash from his son's wounds.

Oh, it hurts so much. It was like I fainted, I mean, God bless him, you know, he, he, he did a pretty good job, but you know he didn't get it all out, so you know I'm tattooed in spots on my legs, you know where the ash. rubbed my skin in his hospital room Venus Durgen looks at the rash coverage. I was in the hospital room that night watching all the events on TV. My IV bottle at the hospital shakes every time the mountain runs, but not everyone is out of the woods. Night falls on Mount St Helens Mike Moore, his wife and his two young daughters have not been able to find their way out of the forest.

They camp for the night, but Mike can't sleep. We could hear the volcano exploding and crackling like it was a witch's cauldron. They'll have to wait for the sun to come up and wait for the next rescue on A&E. Where were you when Mount St. Helens erupted? Tell us at ata.com and now let's go back to the minute May 19, 1980 at 5:55 AM. m. the morning after the eruption of Mt. St Helens National Guard helicopter pilot Jess Hagerman takes to the sky to continue the rescue effort. He really had no idea where he was. He couldn't be seen more than an eighth of a mile, sometimes less, when the ash splits, he reveals it.

Fallen trees stretch as far as he can see despite the devastation. Rescuers are still hoping to find survivors. But as time goes by, they find themselves putting up more and more red flags to mark the dead. A family on the mountain has survived the eruption. His wife Lou and two children have spent 26 hours in the woods near Mount St Helens without being able to get to safety, suddenly here comes the helicopter flying in our direction, there, 304 Squadron from Portland, they put two paramedics on the ground, the Air Force Team. try to airlift the family every time the cable goes down the helicopter rises so much Ash no one can see the cable a cable rescue is impossible the helicopter will have to find a place to land as more family and the paramedics walk to the Green River , but it doesn't find space to land there either.

At that moment, Air National Guard helicopter pilot Jess Hagerman flies overhead, radios the rescue team, and offers to use his smaller craft to evacuate the Moros. There was no place to leave the helicopter completely. so I had to hold it up on a skid. The Moors who have her three-month-old daughter Tara in her backpack get on the helicopter and begin to put this huge Kelty backpack. I said we don't have room for that. I said, well, there's a baby there, I said, well, Hagerman's onboard stuffer takes off and takes the Moore family to nearby Long View Hospital, where they are treated for minor scratches and sent home.

Hundreds of volunteers rescue more than 150 people in just 36 hours, but three are still missing and eight are confirmed dead 31 hours after the eruption Venus Durgen is discharged from the hospital She faces 2 years of physical therapy to recover use of his flat arm 2 days after the eruption a group of geologists lands near the cold water observation base 1 there they find the car of photographer Reed Blackburn, we kneeled to look inside the car and there was Reed, his hair was burned, etc., looking in the car was pretty gruesome three days after the eruption, President Jimmy Carter flies over the area surveying the destruction.

Emergency federal aid is on the way to the four counties most affected by the explosion. The absolute and total devastation of a region that covers around 150 Mi. It's the worst I've ever seen in my life. The force of the eruption has spewed out measurable amounts of ash so far. as far east as Minnesota and as far south as Oklahoma May 25, 1980 a week after the big bang, the mountain erupts again sending a column of ash 8 m high compared to the May 18 eruption, It is a minor event and causes minimal damage, the death toll is now the same. at 21 and 72 people are missing 230 square miles have been devastated, roads have been washed out and railroads buried 68,000 acres of commercial timber worth $400 million have been damaged or destroyed Forester Jim Schank is an Emanuel Hospital burn center in Portland, Oregon, where he endures four skin graft surgeries for burns that covered nearly half his body.

He is the only survivor of his four-man team along the devastated Toodle River. R. Ron's brother locates the buried car and recovers R's things from the trunk, so he brings all this stuff and then he comes out and shows R's parents hey look what I found in the back of R's car it's a big bottle of champagne we're both underage and R's parents just look at r n I just sat there and slid into my seat We laughed, the champagne was the best I've ever had in my life, it was doubly sweet you know , because we survived that and that bottle survived.

No more survivors are found and bodies are recovered for months after the explosion. There is no trace of geologist David Johnston, 30, who was last heard from at the Cold War 2 observation site. The body of the last member of Jim Schank's forestry team is finally found in the branches of a tree about 2 feet above the water level. mark of the Tel River dead from ash inhalation in the end the death toll will reach 57 less than a year after the eruption the first tree is planted in the explosion zone 5 million more are planted in the next 3 years the National Park Mount St Helen A volcanic monument is established and tourism increases dramatically boosting the area's economy.

Thousands of people flock to the mountain and a new Spirit Lake Highway is built to take visitors to the site where Cold Water 2 once stood. 20 years after the disaster, the National Forest Service hosts a meeting for Rescuers and Survivors for those who attend It is a moment to remember and reflect, I was one of the lucky ones and because of that luck of not going back to where we were on Saturday, today I am here, I don't take life for granted nor do I take our children for granted um it doesn't escape me uh what a gift it is to have them Venus durgen and R Reon have remained friends corruption forged the bond that has stood the test of time the supreme act of love and friendship anyone can do is risk their life to save yours and I don't think you're going to ask anyone to do something more for you and that's why you know that I will always be grateful to R, you know that I will always be there. place in my heart the eruption of Mount St.

Helens on May 18, 1980 remains the most devastating volcanic event in the history of the continental United States. Part of its impact has been positive. The US GE iCal survey used data from the eruption to create technology. advances including a satellite warning system for possible eruptions his work has saved thousands and honors the 57 men, women and children who lost their lives on Mount St Helens when you see a volcano erupting, the power and impact, the energy that is released is truly impressive and makes you realize that we are quite insignificant creatures next to an erupting volcano. What if the fate of all men were decided by the faith of one Richard Harris?

Abraham stars tonight on 98 Central, now Law & Order is next on A&A.