#MSH45 | The Blast
Let's back up for a moment.
3.3 billion cubic yards of rock and ice crashing downslope, the landslide buries the North Fork Toutle Valley in debris up to 600 feet deep.
Behind it, A turbulent cloud of ash, pumice, superheated gas, and pulverized rock.
Let's back up for a moment.
3.3 billion cubic yards of rock and ice crashing downslope, the landslide buries the North Fork Toutle Valley in debris up to 600 feet deep.
Behind it, A turbulent cloud of ash, pumice, superheated gas, and pulverized rock.
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Soon, the landslide follows, lifting the lake 800 feet up the opposing ridge, pulling back felled trees, and doubling its surface area.
Harry Truman and his lodge vanish in an instant.
“Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!”
One final garbled message. Then silence.
He doesn’t make it. The blast shatters the car’s windows and buries him in ash.
The heat ruins Blackburn’s film.
In his final moments, he rewinds the film, seals his camera in his backpack, and braces for impact.
Weeks later, his photos are developed—blurred, scorched, and unforgettable.
Mount St Helens Eruption Fatalities, Survivors, and Landmarks https://maps.app.goo.gl/teP3Sjh29uEuFgdv5?g_st=ic
A turbulent cloud of ash, pumice, superheated gas, and pulverized rock, racing at over 300 mph.
It flattens 230 square miles of forest in minutes.
https://i.imgur.com/eUUf0Br.jpeg
They describe the blast hitting first with scorching heat. Then came ash: choking, blinding, burying.
Jim Scymanky, working above Hoffstadt Creek with his crew thinning trees, was thrown to the ground and pinned by debris.
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