Editing Mount St. Helens (section)

===Human impact from the 1980 eruption===
[[File:MSH80 david johnston at camp 05-17-80 med.jpg|thumb|alt=Man sitting at a campsite|[[David A. Johnston]] hours before he was killed by the eruption]]

Fifty-seven people were killed during the eruption.<ref>{{cite web|author=Grisham|first=Lori|date=May 17, 2015|title='I'm going to stay right here.' Lives lost in Mount St. Helens eruption|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/05/17/mount-st-helens-people-stayed/27311467/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603020125/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/05/17/mount-st-helens-people-stayed/27311467/|archive-date=June 3, 2021|access-date=2021-06-20|website=USA Today}}</ref> Had the eruption occurred one day later, when loggers would have been at work, rather than on a Sunday, the death toll could have been much higher.

Eighty-three-year-old [[Harry R. Truman]], who ran the Spirit Lake Lodge and had lived near the mountain since 1929, gained much media attention when he decided not to evacuate before the impending eruption, despite repeated pleas by local authorities.<ref name="SciHistOrg">{{cite web|last=Kean|first=Sam|date=December 12, 2018|title=Harry versus the volcano|url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/harry-versus-the-volcano|access-date=May 29, 2021|website=Science History Institute|publisher=Sam Kean}}</ref> His body was never found after the eruption.<ref name=sis>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=M9MvAAAAIBAJ&pg=5277,988696&dq= |title=Sister, friend say Harry probably dead |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=May 20, 1980 |newspaper=[[Spokane Daily Chronicle]]}}</ref>

Another victim of the eruption was 30-year-old [[volcanologist]] [[David A. Johnston]], who was stationed on the nearby Coldwater Ridge. Moments before his position was hit by the pyroclastic flow, Johnston radioed his [[last words]]: "Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!"<ref>{{cite news|last=Cartier|first=Kimberly|date=June 27, 2019|title=Perish the thought: A life in science sometimes becomes a death, too|newspaper=Eos|url=https://eos.org/features/honoring-volcanologist-david-johnston-as-a-hero-and-a-human|url-status=live|access-date=2021-06-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610062416/https://eos.org/features/honoring-volcanologist-david-johnston-as-a-hero-and-a-human|archive-date=2021-06-10}}</ref> Johnston's body was never found.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zgwkAAAAIBAJ&pg=3835%2C2980629|title=Workers may have found body of man buried by volcanic ash|newspaper=Moscow-Pullman Daily News|date=1993-06-29}}</ref> [[Robert Landsburg]] was another victim, a photographer who took pictures of the approaching ash cloud. He placed his camera in his backpack and laid on top of it to protect the film.<ref>{{cite news |date=June 5, 1980 |title=Searchers Find Body of Another Volcano Victim |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-republic-searchers-find-body-of-anot/153496385/ |access-date=August 17, 2024 |newspaper=[[The Republic (Columbus, Indiana)|The Republic]] |location=[[Columbus, Indiana]] |page=A2 |via=newspapers.com |agency=[[United Press International|UPI]]}}</ref> His body and the camera were found on June 4, 1980. The photos survived and provided geologists with valuable documentation of the eruption.<ref name="coenraads">Robert Coenraads (2006). ''Natural Disasters and How We Cope'', p. 50. Millennium House, {{ISBN|978-1-921209-11-6}}.</ref>

[[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Jimmy Carter]] surveyed the damage and said, "Someone said this area looked like a moonscape. But the moon looks more like a golf course compared to what's up there."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=NewsReleases&ContentRecord_id=b7074254-a8dc-4b7a-9547-cb6dfcaacd28&ContentType_id=0b98dc1b-dd08-4df2-adac-21f6ae03beed&Group_id=97a054dd-8a74-4cd0-8771-fbc3be733874&MonthDisplay=5&YearDisplay=2005 |title=Mount St.&nbsp;Helens: Senator Murray Speaks on the 25th Anniversary of the May 18, 1980 Eruption |publisher=U.S. Senate |access-date=2006-11-12}}</ref> A film crew, led by Seattle filmmaker Otto Seiber, was dropped by [[helicopter]] on St.&nbsp;Helens on May 23 to document the destruction. Their [[compass]]es, however, spun in circles and they quickly became lost. A second eruption occurred on May&nbsp;25, but the crew survived and was rescued two days later by [[United States National Guard|National Guard]] helicopter pilots. Their film, '' [[The Eruption of Mount St. Helens!]]'', later became a popular documentary.

The eruption had negative effects beyond the immediate area of the volcano. Ashfall caused approximately $100 million of damage to agriculture downwind in Eastern Washington, equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{inflation|US|100,000,000|1980}}}} in {{inflation/year|US}}.{{inflation/fn|US}}<ref name=ag>{{cite journal|title=Impact on Agriculture of the Mount St. Helens Eruptions|first1=R. J.|last1=Cook|first2=J. C.|last2=Barron|first3=R. I.|last3=Papendick|first4=G. J.|last4=Williams III|journal=Science|date=1981-01-02|volume=211|issue=4477|pages=16–22|doi=10.1126/science.211.4477.16|pmid=17731222|bibcode=1981Sci...211...16C}}</ref>

The eruption also had positive impacts on society. Apple and wheat production were higher in the 1980 growing season, possibly due to ash helping to retain moisture in the soil.<ref name=impacts>{{cite web|url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/msh/impact.html|title=Impact and aftermath|publisher=USGS|date=1997-06-25}}</ref> The ash was also a source of income: it was the raw material for the artificial gemstone [[helenite]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sciencing.com/helenite-7966283.html|title=What is Helenite?|website=Sciencing}}</ref> or for ceramic glazes,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/jun/12/potter-turns-ash-into-beauty/|title=Potter turns ash into beauty|newspaper=Spokane Spokesman-Review|date=June 12, 2015|first=Cindy|last=Hval}}</ref> or sold as a tourist curio.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mt-st-helens.com/giftshop.html|title=Mount St.&nbsp;Helens Gift Shop|access-date=2021-03-13}}</ref>