Mount St Helens Case Study

• Social: How many homes were destroyed?

  250 homes
• Social: How many bridges were destroyed?

  47 bridges
• Social: How many miles of railway were destroyed?

  15 miles
• Social: How many miles of highway were destroyed?

  185 miles
• Social: How many people died?

  57 people
• Economic: How much were the damages?

  $860 million
• Economic: Which industries were impacted?

  Tourism, fishing, timber and farming
• Economic: How many board feet of timber were damaged?

  4.7 billion
• Economic: How many transport vehicles were damaged?

  22 transport vehicles
• Economic: How many rail cars were damaged?

  39 rail cars
• Environmental: What happened to the top of the mountain during the eruption?

  400 metres were blown off of the top of the mountain
• Environmental: How many plants and animals were affected during the eruption?

  Every plant and animal were killed within 25km of the eruption
• Environmental: How many trees were flattened during the eruption?

  Every tree within 30km of the eruption was flattened
• Environmental: What created the lahars?

  Water from snow and ice
• Environmental: How many salmon died?

  12 million
• Environmental: What was the one positive impact?

  Thousands of new pond and lake habitats were created which were quickly colonised