MAY 18TH, 1980
Day of the eruption
First aerials of the devastation
Air units from around the northwest were scrambled to Kelso, Washington to fly rescue missions into the area around Mount St. Helens,
KGW was able to fly with one of the guard units and document some of the first footage seen anywhere in the world of the destruction and the sheer desolation with in the blast zone.
The video begins with ground footage of some of guard units taking off.
The aerials begin in the lower reaches of the Toutle River valley, along the Columbia River. As the copter flies farther up the valley the effects of the eruption, mud and Lahar become more apparent.
2:35 into the video you see officials at the edge of the exclusion zone set up to keep people from entering the area near the eruption.
At 3:42 into the video the first wide-spread affects of the mud flows along the south fork of the Toutle River. The river and mud had breached the banks of the river and flowed in all directions.
4:38 into the video show a section of the highway below completely washed away, the area covered in logs and trees. At 5:03 the rescuers spot a man crawling through the mud and others waving to get their attention.
6:36 into the video shows a washed out railroad bridge with only one rail still handing across the expanse of mud and water.
8:32 into the video the crew flies over a logging operation that was destroyed by the flow, cut timber and large equipment strewn throughout the area.
9:55 into the video the camera focuses on the mountain still miles away.
The crew then flies close enough to see the still billowing wall of ash. The video closes with some of the most iconic images of the continuing eruption.
This is newly restored video from the KGW archives converted to full HD.
It is presented in it's original 4x3 registration.
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8 май 2020
