USGS/Cascades Volcano Observatory, Vancouver, Washington
DESCRIPTION:
Economic Impact of the May 18, 1980 Eruption
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MSH81_dredging_toutle_river_02-05-81.jpg
In order to remove the May 18, 1980 sediment deposits, and to keep up with new sedimentation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began a dredging program on the Toutle (shown here), the Cowlitz, and the Columbia Rivers. By 1987, nearly 140 million cubic yards (110 million meters) of material had been removed from the channels. This is enough material to build twelve lanes of highway, one-foot thick, from New York to San Francisco.
USGS Photograph taken on February 5, 1981, by Lyn Topinka.
[medium size] ...
[large size]
-- From: Tilling, Topinka, and Swanson, 1990,
Eruptions of Mount St. Helens: Past, Present, and Future:
USGS Special Interest Publication
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The
May 18, 1980, eruption (of Mount St. Helens)
was the most destructive in the history of the United States.
Novarupta (Katmai) Volcano, Alaska,
erupted considerably more
material in 1912, but owing to the isolation and
sparse population of the region affected, there were
no human deaths and little property damage. In
contrast, Mount St. Helens' eruption in a matter of
hours caused loss of lives and widespread destruction
of valuable property, primarily by the debris
avalanche, the lateral blast, and the mudflows.
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Landscape changes caused by the May 18 eruption
were readily seen on high-altitude photographs.
Such images, however, cannot reveal the impacts
of the devastation on people and their works. The
May 18 eruption resulted in scores of injuries and
the loss of 57 lives. Within the United States before
May 18, 1980, only two known casualties had been
attributed to volcanic activity - a photographer was
struck by falling rocks during the explosive eruption
of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, in 1924; and an Army
sergeant who disappeared during the 1944 eruption
of Cleveland Volcano, Chuginadak Island, Aleutians.
Autopsies indicated that most of Mount St. Helens'
victims died by asphyxiation from inhaling hot volcanic
ash, and some by thermal and other injuries.
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The lateral blast, debris avalanche, mudflows, and
flooding caused extensive damage to land and civil
works. All buildings and related manmade structures
in the vicinity of Spirit Lake were buried. More than
200 houses and cabins were destroyed and many
more were damaged in Skamania and Cowlitz Counties,
leaving many people homeless.
Many tens of
thousands of acres of prime forest, as well as recreational
sites, bridges, roads, and trails, were destroyed
or heavily damaged. More than 185 miles
of highways and roads and 15 miles of railways
were destroyed or extensively damaged.
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Trees amounting to more than 4 billion board feet
of salable timber were damaged or destroyed, primarily
by the lateral blast. At least 25 percent of
the destroyed timber was salvaged after September
1980. Hundreds of loggers were involved in the
timber-salvage operations, and, during peak summer
months, more than 600 truckloads of salvaged
timber were retrieved each day. Wildlife in the
Mount St. Helens area also suffered heavily. The
Washington State Department of Game estimated
that nearly 7,000 big game animals (deer, elk, and
bear) perished in the area most affected by the
eruption, as well as all birds and most small mammals.
However, many small animals, chiefly burrowing rodents,
frogs, salamanders, and crawfish,
managed to survive because they were below
ground level or water surface when the disaster
struck. The Washington Department of Fisheries
estimated that 12 million Chinook and Coho salmon
fingerlings were killed when hatcheries were destroyed;
these might have developed into about
360,000 adult salmon. Another estimated 40,000
young salmon were lost when they were forced to
swim through the turbine blades of hydroelectric
generators because the levels of the reservoirs
along the Lewis River south of Mount St. Helens
were kept low to accommodate possible mudflows
and flooding.
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Downwind of the volcano, in areas of thick ash
accumulation, many agricultural crops, such as
wheat, apples, potatoes, and alfalfa, were destroyed.
Many crops survived, however, in areas blanketed
by only a thin covering of ash. In fact, the apple
and wheat production in 1980 was higher than normal
due to greater-than-average summer precipitation.
The crusting of ash also helped to retain soil
moisture through the summer. Moreover, in the
long term, the ash may provide beneficial chemical
nutrients to the soils of eastern Washington, which
themselves were formed of older glacial deposits
that contain a significant ash component. Effects of
the ash fall on the water quality of streams, lakes,
and rivers were short lived and minor.
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The ash fall, however, did pose some temporary
major problems for transportation operations and
for sewage-disposal and water-treatment systems.
Because visibility was greatly decreased during the
ash fall, many highways and roads were closed to
traffic, some only for a few hours, but others for
weeks. Interstate 90 from Seattle to Spokane, Washington,
was closed for a week. Air transportation
was disrupted for a few days to 2 weeks as several
airports in eastern Washington shut down due to
ash accumulation and attendant poor visibility. Over
a thousand commercial flights were cancelled following
airport closures.
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The fine-grained, gritty ash caused substantial
problems for internal-combustion engines and other
mechanical and electrical equipment. The ash contaminated
oil systems, clogged air filters, and
scratched moving surfaces. Fine ash caused short
circuits in electrical transformers, which in turn
caused power blackouts. The sewage-disposal systems
of several municipalities that received about
half an inch or more of ash, such as Moses Lake
and Yakima, Washington, were plagued by ash
clogging and damage to pumps, filters, and other
equipment. Fortunately, as these same cities used
deep wells and closed storage, their water-supply
systems were only minimally affected.
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The removal and disposal of ash from highways,
roads, buildings, and airport runways were monumental
tasks for some eastern Washington communities.
State and Federal agencies estimated
that over 2.4 million cubic yards of ash-equivalent
to about 900,000 tons in weight-were removed
from highways and airports in Washington State.
Ash removal cost $2.2 million and took 10 weeks in
Yakima. The need to remove ash quickly from transportation
routes and civil works dictated the selection of
some disposal sites. Some cities used old
quarries and existing sanitary landfills; others
created dumpsites wherever expedient. To minimize
wind reworking of ash dumps, the surfaces of
some disposal sites have been covered with topsoil
and seeded with grass. About 250,000 cubic yards
of ash have been stockpiled at five sites and can
be retrieved easily for constructional or industrial
use al some future date if economic factors are
favorable.
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What was the cost of the destruction and damage
caused by the May 18 eruption? Accurate cost
figures remain difficult to determine. Early estimates
were too high and ranged from $2 to $3 billion, primarily
reflecting the timber, civil works, and agricultural
losses. A refined estimate of $1.1 billion was
determined in a study by the International Trade
Commission at the request of Congress. A supplemental
appropriation of $951 million for disaster
relief was voted by Congress, of which the largest
share went to the Small Business Administration,
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Federal
Emergency Management Agency.
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There were indirect and intangible costs of the
eruption as well. Unemployment in the immediate
region of Mount St. Helens rose tenfold in the
weeks immediately following the eruption and then
nearly returned to normal once timber salvaging
and ash-cleanup operations were underway. Only a
small percentage of residents left the region because
of lost jobs owing to the eruption. Several
months after May 18, a few residents reported suffering
stress and emotional problems, even though
they had coped successfully during the crisis. The
counties in the region requested funding for mental
health programs to assist such people.
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Initial public reaction to the May 18 eruption
nearly dealt a crippling blow to tourism, an important
industry in Washington. Not only was tourism
down in the Mount St. Helens-Gifford Pinchot National
Forest area, but conventions, meetings, and
social gatherings also were canceled or postponed
at cities and resorts elsewhere in Washington and
neighboring Oregon not affected by the eruption.
The negative impact on tourism and conventioneering,
however, proved only temporary. Mount St.
Helens, perhaps because of its reawakening, has
regained its appeal for tourists. The U.S. Forest
Service (USFS) and State of Washington opened
visitor centers and provided access for people to
view firsthand the volcano's awesome devastation.
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The spectacular eruption impressed upon the
people in the Pacific Northwest that they share
their lands with both active and potentially active
volcanoes. With the passage of time, the damaged
forests, streams, and fields will heal, and the memory
of the 1980 eruption and its impacts will fade in
future generations. The Mount St. Helens experience
has been so thoroughly documented, however, that
it likely will be a reminder for decades in the future
of the possibility of renewed volcanic activity and
destruction.
From:
Foxworthy and Hill, 1982,
Volcanic Eruptions of 1980 at Mount St. Helens:
The First 100 Days:
U.S.Geological Survey Professional Paper 1249
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Economic losses in the State of Washington have been estimated officially at
$860 million, down substantially from earlier estimates. The largest loss,
reported to be $450 million, was standing timber in areas affected by the
lateral blast and mudflows. Losses in agricultural output, which apparently are
less than officials had expected, may range from $40 to $100 million. Except
for losses in areas near the volcano, most economic damages were caused by
ashfall. Notable exceptions are the flood damage along the Toutle and lower
Cowlitz rivers, the costs of dredging and levee building, and economic losses
related to interrupted shipping on the Columbia River. The economic impacts on
communities in the "ash belt" varied greatly, but, as a general rule, the
greater the ashfall thickness, the greater the economic loss.
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Oregon also has suffered economic losses, mostly because of ash effects and
cleanup costs. A notable agricultural loss in northwestern Oregon (and also in
southwestern Washington) occurred after the ashfall of June 12 and 13. Much of
the strawberry crop rotted in the fields when ash-laden leaves pressed the fruit
against the soil. Other losses to berry crops occurred because ash could not be
washed from the fruit.
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Most economic loss in the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area has been related
to ash cleanup, but a major loss also has resulted from the disruption of
shipping on the lower Columbia River. For example, the Port of Portland
reportedly expects to lose at least $5 million in revenues through the month of
August 1980 because of closure of the Columbia River shipping channel. In
addition, workers dependent on port business reportedly are losing about $4
million a month, and shipping firms also are suffering loss of business.
From:
Miller, 1989,
Potential Hazards from Future Volcanic Eruptions in California:
USGS Bulletin 1847
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... Eruptions of Mount St. Helens in May and June 1980, that were small in
volume relative to possible future events in California, resulted in estimated
shortterm losses to the economy of Washington State of $970 million dollars
(MacCready, 1982**).
Moreover, 60 lives were lost during the May 18 eruption, and
additional economic losses are still accumulating at the time of this writing
(fall 1987).
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**MacCready, J.S., 1982, Some economic consequences of the eruptions,
in Mount St. Helens one year later [S.A.C. Keller, ed.], Eastern
Washington University Press, Cheney, p.215-224.
From:
Kenedi, et.al., 2000,
Volcanic Ash Fall -- A "Hard Rain" of Abrasive Particles:
USGS Fact Sheet 027-00
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More then $1 billion in property and economic losses was caused by
Mount St. Helens' 1980 eruption --
much of it by
ash.
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02/07/05, Lyn Topinka