000,000 SALMON, AND ON THE WHEAT FIELDS AND ORCHARDS TO THE EAST. U...
10,000,000 salmon, and on the wheat fields and orchards to the east.
Until 1980 the volcano had been inactive since 1857. In 1975 geologists had predicted that it
might erupt ‘perhaps before the end of the century’. And then seven weeks before the disaster,
the experts came up with a more exact prediction. They said an eruption was imminent and that
an evacuation programme should begin. They declared two zones around the mountain ( a red
zone and a blue zone) and set up blockades to stop people going in. But in the weeks that led
up to that Sunday, tourists, loggers, property-owners, newsmen and mountain climbers had
entered the ‘forbidden’ zones. Some of these people paid with their lives. Later, it was found
that ash and molten mud had caught up with many: falling trees had killed others.
David Johnston had always known that the mountain would blow fast when the time came.
He thought they would have about two hours’warning. In the event, he had hardly any warning
at all. Searchers found only a four-foot-high pile of black ash where Johnston’s trailer had
stood.
When the dust and ash had finally settled, what kinds of problems do you think people in
nearby towns and cities had to face up ?