- 12 Jan 2010 23:58
#13291663
Mount Saint Helen's.
Back Story:
The eruption of Mt St Helen's in 1980 was the single worst volcanic incident in the continental US since 1915. It was preceded by a two month series of minor earthquakes and steam-venting episodes. These were caused by magma injection just below the volcano, and this injection caused the noticeable product of, a bulge on the North Slope. The bulge eventually cracked, and the mountain blew it's top off. A minor earth quake caused the crack to completely rupture, and the entire north face blew away. This allowed the release of lava, various gases and sulfur. The lava blew out with such speed that it overtook the still avalanching North Face. The cloud plumed up 80,000 feet, and deposited ash in 11 states. While this happened, existing snow, ice, and even whole glaciers melted an created what's called a 'lahar', which is a volcanic mudslide. The lahar created by the eruption reached the Columbia river 50 miles away. There were a few others minor eruptions through out the rest of the day.
Initial Consequences:
In all 57 died as a result of the explosion and over a billion US Dollars in damage. Additionally, approx 200 houses, 27 bridges, 15 miles of railway, and 185 miles of highway were destroyed. The eruption moved over a cubic mile (3/4s fresh lava and other results of the explosion), the total north slope (or about 13% of the total face) was gone, which reduced the mountain's height by 1,313 feet, and created a crater 1 to 2 miles wide, and 2,100 feet. Additionally, more then 4 billion board feet of timber was destroyed (25% of which was salvaged), and thousands of elk and deer, and millions of fish were killed. All in all, 24 megatons of energy (or 16,000 Hiroshima's) was released.
For an idea of how large the explosion was, here are some before and after pics courtesy of Wikipedia.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... elens1.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... eather.jpg
After math:
There was major issues involving transportation, sewage disposal, and water treatment immediately following the eruption, which was largely cleared up within days of the eruption. This included major highways being shut down, and air travel disruptions for a few days to weeks later (caused by ash in several Washington area Airports) and over a thousand individual flights were canceled. The ash caused issues for internal combustion engines, and other mechanical and electronic equipment, which included large black outs. 2.4 million cubic yards (or 900,000 tons) of ash was removed from high ways and airports, costing 2.2 million dollars and taking 10 weeks to complete in Yakima County, for example. There was a fear of wind blowing the ash back onto streets, this resulted in the disposal sites (mostly old quarries and land fills) being covered with top soil and then seeded. It was such a problem that the mayor of Portland threatened local businesses if they did not remove the ash from there parking lots.
Costs:
The direct cost is estimated at 2-3 billion dollars (at the time). Additionally, 951 million dollars was given to the Small Business Bureau, US Army Corps of Engineers, and FEMA to help rebuild the area. Unemployment rose 10 times in the weeks following the eruption. Months after the eruption people complained of stress and emotional trauma, even though they had coped successfully during the eruption; this resulted in several counties requesting federal dollars for counseling. Initial reaction caused a near fatal drop in tourism across the state and in neighboring Oregon (not significantly affected by the eruption), which is an important industry in Washington state.
Where those Fascists fucked up:
Shortly after the bulge was formed, the US Geological Society told the local and federal authorities of the possibility of a major eruption. Those Socialist's agreed, and used various people to evacuate the area. This included police, FEMA, Guardsmen, and even a handful of federal troops. However, 56 people refused to leave. Had this same thing been done by a private company acting in there own selfish interests in a private market, those remaining 56 would have left. Infact, those 56 people were likely freedom fighters against the Police State.
Additionally, those fucking Communists clearly wanted to restrict the private market, which would have come up with some method of stopping the avalanche, the lahars, and the lava flow, if it wasn't for those fucking fat cats in our government. Hell, if it wasn't for those fuckers, there'd probably be a magical pill which prevents volcanic eruptions altogether, or atleast capture the massive amount of energy given off.
Furthermore, the cost to clear streets, and so forth, would have been half as much if it was done by private groups, not some Socialized bull shit of 'The Army Corps of Engineers'. And the infrastructure issues would have been cleared immediately if it wasn't for those tax slave-owners in DC, and yes, that mean's the flights that were cancelled or delayed, would have been flown on time. And that Portland Mayor, he was a fucking slave driver too, forcing citizens to clear up a mess that could have been fixed by the private market!
So, yah, the whole problem would have never been a problem if it wasn't for those Socialist, Nazist, Police Statist, Fasicst, Communist, taxation through slavery bastards, who are seeking to gang rape society with there coercive practices![/sarcasm]
Back Story:
The eruption of Mt St Helen's in 1980 was the single worst volcanic incident in the continental US since 1915. It was preceded by a two month series of minor earthquakes and steam-venting episodes. These were caused by magma injection just below the volcano, and this injection caused the noticeable product of, a bulge on the North Slope. The bulge eventually cracked, and the mountain blew it's top off. A minor earth quake caused the crack to completely rupture, and the entire north face blew away. This allowed the release of lava, various gases and sulfur. The lava blew out with such speed that it overtook the still avalanching North Face. The cloud plumed up 80,000 feet, and deposited ash in 11 states. While this happened, existing snow, ice, and even whole glaciers melted an created what's called a 'lahar', which is a volcanic mudslide. The lahar created by the eruption reached the Columbia river 50 miles away. There were a few others minor eruptions through out the rest of the day.
Initial Consequences:
In all 57 died as a result of the explosion and over a billion US Dollars in damage. Additionally, approx 200 houses, 27 bridges, 15 miles of railway, and 185 miles of highway were destroyed. The eruption moved over a cubic mile (3/4s fresh lava and other results of the explosion), the total north slope (or about 13% of the total face) was gone, which reduced the mountain's height by 1,313 feet, and created a crater 1 to 2 miles wide, and 2,100 feet. Additionally, more then 4 billion board feet of timber was destroyed (25% of which was salvaged), and thousands of elk and deer, and millions of fish were killed. All in all, 24 megatons of energy (or 16,000 Hiroshima's) was released.
For an idea of how large the explosion was, here are some before and after pics courtesy of Wikipedia.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... elens1.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... eather.jpg
After math:
There was major issues involving transportation, sewage disposal, and water treatment immediately following the eruption, which was largely cleared up within days of the eruption. This included major highways being shut down, and air travel disruptions for a few days to weeks later (caused by ash in several Washington area Airports) and over a thousand individual flights were canceled. The ash caused issues for internal combustion engines, and other mechanical and electronic equipment, which included large black outs. 2.4 million cubic yards (or 900,000 tons) of ash was removed from high ways and airports, costing 2.2 million dollars and taking 10 weeks to complete in Yakima County, for example. There was a fear of wind blowing the ash back onto streets, this resulted in the disposal sites (mostly old quarries and land fills) being covered with top soil and then seeded. It was such a problem that the mayor of Portland threatened local businesses if they did not remove the ash from there parking lots.
Costs:
The direct cost is estimated at 2-3 billion dollars (at the time). Additionally, 951 million dollars was given to the Small Business Bureau, US Army Corps of Engineers, and FEMA to help rebuild the area. Unemployment rose 10 times in the weeks following the eruption. Months after the eruption people complained of stress and emotional trauma, even though they had coped successfully during the eruption; this resulted in several counties requesting federal dollars for counseling. Initial reaction caused a near fatal drop in tourism across the state and in neighboring Oregon (not significantly affected by the eruption), which is an important industry in Washington state.
Where those Fascists fucked up:
Shortly after the bulge was formed, the US Geological Society told the local and federal authorities of the possibility of a major eruption. Those Socialist's agreed, and used various people to evacuate the area. This included police, FEMA, Guardsmen, and even a handful of federal troops. However, 56 people refused to leave. Had this same thing been done by a private company acting in there own selfish interests in a private market, those remaining 56 would have left. Infact, those 56 people were likely freedom fighters against the Police State.
Additionally, those fucking Communists clearly wanted to restrict the private market, which would have come up with some method of stopping the avalanche, the lahars, and the lava flow, if it wasn't for those fucking fat cats in our government. Hell, if it wasn't for those fuckers, there'd probably be a magical pill which prevents volcanic eruptions altogether, or atleast capture the massive amount of energy given off.
Furthermore, the cost to clear streets, and so forth, would have been half as much if it was done by private groups, not some Socialized bull shit of 'The Army Corps of Engineers'. And the infrastructure issues would have been cleared immediately if it wasn't for those tax slave-owners in DC, and yes, that mean's the flights that were cancelled or delayed, would have been flown on time. And that Portland Mayor, he was a fucking slave driver too, forcing citizens to clear up a mess that could have been fixed by the private market!
So, yah, the whole problem would have never been a problem if it wasn't for those Socialist, Nazist, Police Statist, Fasicst, Communist, taxation through slavery bastards, who are seeking to gang rape society with there coercive practices![/sarcasm]