On this day: 1980 - Mount St. Helens

On this day in 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted in the State of Washington. The event began as a 5.1 magnitude earthquake which caused the collapse of the north facing wall of the mountain which resulted in an avalanche and subsequent explosion of pressurized volcanic gasses. The incident resulted in 57 fatalities attributed to asphyxiation, burns, and trauma. In the wake of the volcano approximately 150 square miles of forest was destroyed. 

Source: http://goo.gl/GqZD8

Sources
http://goo.gl/Nc9A7
http://goo.gl/CpTWX

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Steven Kuhr

Emergency Management Nexus
Disaster History

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On this day: 1980 - Tornado

On this day in 1980 at approximately 4:00 pm an F3 tornado struck Kalmazoo, Michigan resulting in five deaths and approximately 80 casualties. About 1200 people were displaced from their homes. The funnel traveled 11 miles leaving $50 million of damage and destruction it's wake. The tornado was captured on video by owners of an electronics store. Interestingly, 328 students were sent home from an elementary school about an hour before the tornado destroyed their school. The meteorological science associated with this storm can be found in the NOAA report for this event.

                                                   Source: http://goo.gl/9MJmo

                                               

                                                                          Trajectory of the funnel

                                                                   Source: http://goo.gl/9MJmo

Sources

http://goo.gl/jH218

http://goo.gl/9MJmo

http://goo.gl/LIrcJ

http://goo.gl/AqBqc

Steven Kuhr
Disaster History
disasterhx.blogspot.com
skuhr.blogspot.com
facebook.com/emnexus
twitter.com/steven_kuhr
#EMNexus
#DisasterHX