Escaping From Mt. St. Helens

Dave Crockett woke up and was feeling excited.  It was 18th of May 1980.  He was a reporter for KOMO news. He was 28 years old and wanted to catch a big story.  The mountain, Mount St. Helens, was smoking. It had started about one month before.  Crockett got in his car and drove to the mountain.

He was there for 10 minutes and heard no sounds.  No birds were singing. Suddenly, an earthquake shook the mountain.  The northern face of the mountain collapsed. An avalanche of snow, ice and ash flowed down the side of the mountain. Then, magma erupted from the hole.  Smoke rose 20 kilometres in the air. Lightning shot from the plume.

Dave Crockett was shocked, but, he was a great reporter.  He filmed his entire experience.  He talked about what was happening. The air was filling with ash.  There was no sound. It was like being on a different planet.  He avoided some mudflows and walked through others. The light was grey.  He was breathing poorly because of all the ash.  Later in the afternoon, he was rescued by helicopter.

The avalanche destroyed 600 kilometres of forest, roads, and homes. 57 people died.
When people watch Dave Crockett’s video, it teaches that mankind has to respect nature.