The 1980’s Eruption of Mount St. Helens “Nature is so powerful and we don’t have any control over that” said Lesa Oestreich when asked about what something she’ll always remember from the 1980’s eruption of Mount St. Helens. On May 18, 1980 57 people lost their lives because Mount St. Helens after lying dormant for 123 years erupted. Although there had been fair warning some people decided to stay in areas already told to be dangerous and therefore lost their lives.
The Car Lesa Oestrich had a non-direct experience with Mount St. Helen’s but it was still a very unique story that showed the impacts of the approximately 540 million tons of ash that fell on 22 million square feet of Washington and other surrounding states. At the time Lesa Oestriech was living in Burien which is 161.9 miles south east of Mount St. Helens. Her best friend at the time had gone to Westport which is 141 miles west of Burien, to visit some family. She was in Westport when the eruption happened. When she arrived back in Burien her car was covered with layers of “thick” ash.
Lesa’s best friend wasn’t the only one to have it happen to her others that …show more content…
They wanted to die there”. A number of people decided to ignore the warnings given to them days prior to the eruption; therefore they died on the mountain. One of the more known cases of this is a man by the name of Harry Randall Truman, owner of the Mount St. Helens Lodge at the foot of Mount St. Helens beside Spirit Lake. He hadn’t fully believed the warning he thought of them as exaggerated. Truman died alone at his lodge the day of the eruption. The fast moving hot air and gas had destroyed the Spirit Lake area, ruining the lake and burying the lodge under 150 feet of debris. There were some 56 others that lost their lives that day. Lesa’s point of view was that “that’s a chance they took, the mountain area was their life and they choose to die
The Car Lesa Oestrich had a non-direct experience with Mount St. Helen’s but it was still a very unique story that showed the impacts of the approximately 540 million tons of ash that fell on 22 million square feet of Washington and other surrounding states. At the time Lesa Oestriech was living in Burien which is 161.9 miles south east of Mount St. Helens. Her best friend at the time had gone to Westport which is 141 miles west of Burien, to visit some family. She was in Westport when the eruption happened. When she arrived back in Burien her car was covered with layers of “thick” ash.
Lesa’s best friend wasn’t the only one to have it happen to her others that …show more content…
They wanted to die there”. A number of people decided to ignore the warnings given to them days prior to the eruption; therefore they died on the mountain. One of the more known cases of this is a man by the name of Harry Randall Truman, owner of the Mount St. Helens Lodge at the foot of Mount St. Helens beside Spirit Lake. He hadn’t fully believed the warning he thought of them as exaggerated. Truman died alone at his lodge the day of the eruption. The fast moving hot air and gas had destroyed the Spirit Lake area, ruining the lake and burying the lodge under 150 feet of debris. There were some 56 others that lost their lives that day. Lesa’s point of view was that “that’s a chance they took, the mountain area was their life and they choose to die