Surviving Volcanic ash black outs.

**Wildthang** · 03-28-2014, 12:40 PM

Has anybody here considered what it would take to survive the volcanic ash cloud if Yellowstone ever erupts. I know it is something I haven't given much thought to, and there has got to be a way to improve your odds.
I suppose reparators would be at the top of the list, as well as food, water, and the entire list of staple items most of us keep on hand. BUt I think there are a lot of things about a volcanic dust cloud that people would never consider, like strangleing HVAC systems, clogging up your cars air cleaner, ruining the water supply, pretty much shutting down all traffic, and continuous darkness.
The more I think about it, the more I think that it could possibly be one of the worst SHTF events ever!

**hunter63** · 03-28-2014, 12:51 PM

That would be right up there as the effects even after the "event" would linger for a long, long, time.....
possibility effecting the entire planet.
No amount of prep or food, fuel, or what ever, would be enough unless your stuff would last for years.

Most people think of SHTF as, "Well, things will get back to normal, somewhere, at some point...."
I believe this is a TEOTWAWKI.....and may not be survival able for many, for very long.

**Rick** · 03-28-2014, 02:34 PM

You and I don't have to worry about it too much. Past events at Yellowstone have never made it this far. Here's a map of past ash falls:

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Still, we could have suspended ash in the air. I do have some gas masks with sealed spare filters for a dusty/smoky air event. I'd never use them for anything else though.

**MrFixIt** · 03-28-2014, 03:26 PM

I'm looking at that map and see the ash fall from Mt. St. Helen.
I remember we had the stuff all over everything in GA.
I think my mom may still have a Mason jar full of it...

**Seniorman** · 03-28-2014, 05:40 PM

Originally Posted by MrFixIt

I'm looking at that map and see the ash fall from Mt. St. Helen.
...

If the Yellowstone Caldera were to erupt in the manner many geologists predict, it would make the Mt. St. Helens eruption look like a prairie gopher kicking dirt out of his hole in the ground.

S.M.

**sjj** · 03-28-2014, 10:08 PM

edited......

**aflineman** · 03-28-2014, 11:18 PM

Mazama As beds are pretty extensive also.

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**Rick** · 03-29-2014, 07:11 AM

I think there's a huge difference between ash fall and ash filtering out of the atmosphere. That can happen for years after an event. There's a pretty significant difference between

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and

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Correct me if I'm wrong but I think Wildthang was more concerned with the former than the latter.

**towelie** · 03-29-2014, 12:25 PM

Just to give y'all a bit more peace of mind I figured I would post a bit of information on the timing of the eruptions at Yellowstone Caldera:

People on the discovery channel and other media sources keep saying we are "overdue" for an eruption from Yellowstone Caldera... To figure out how wrong they are about that, all you need is common sense, a minimal amount of knowledge on volcanology, and basic math skills: I can tell you we couldn't possibly be considered "overdue" for an eruption simply based on subtracting the number of years that have passed second of the only previous three eruption events from that of the first, yielding 800,000 years between eruption 1 and 2, then doing the same thing with 2 and 3 gives 660,000 years between eruptions. The average of those two numbers, 730,000 years, and the shortest amount of time between eruptions observed at this particular caldera, 660,000 years, are both longer than the time since the last eruption.

Theres probably a bell curve graph somewhere out there for predicting the time of the next eruption that likely has its left end at around 10,000 to 20,000 years from now, and its right end at around 150,000 to 170,000 years from now with 90,000 years from now being close to the middle of the bell curve. Don't get me wrong, there is a real chance it could erupt before I finish typing this post, but in my mind that is as likely as me winning the lottery in all 50 states in one day.

ON THE OTHER HAND!!!!

Mt. Rainier in Washington State is a cannon with a lit fuse pointed right at Tacoma, Washington and much of its suburban population. If you live in Tacoma, please listen to me: GTFO or you will die by instantly being boiled alive by a pyroclastic flow!!!!

**Rick** · 03-29-2014, 04:13 PM

The last eruption, the Lava Creek eruption was 640,000 years ago. So........

**aflineman** · 03-29-2014, 10:45 PM

I can speak from first hand experience that Mt. St. Helens was no fun. Pictures can't ever do it justice. Utterly devastated. It just amazes me what it looks like today.

**Lil K** · 03-30-2014, 02:40 PM

Anybody else hear about the 4.8 mag earthquake that happened this weekend on the border of Yellowstone? http://rt.com/news/yellowstone-natio...arthquake-225/

They are common of course, but hey this one was a bit bigger and made the news so it is special

**sjj** · 04-01-2014, 05:08 AM

edited......

**Phaedrus** · 04-01-2014, 05:29 AM

Periodically someone in the media "discovers" that the caldera at YS is really huge and "overdue" for a big blast, but geologists and vulcanologists consider the danger to be very remote. The site is geologically active but there's little risk of a catastrophic eruption like the Toba event. In any event there's not a lot of planning that would help, I'm afraid. If the worst was to occur it would endanger not human civilization but human survival. It would scarcely matter where you were on the planet; farther away would just mean you'd freeze or starve to death vs dying in the blast.

**Wildthang** · 04-01-2014, 01:10 PM

Doesn't volacanic ash really mess up your lungs. I seem to remember that the crystals in actually cuts ther tissue inside your lungs.

**Rick** · 04-01-2014, 02:10 PM

From what I've read....take that for what it's worth. The dust is actually a form of rock and glass dust. The glass dust can actually cut the air passageways and lungs causing blood loss. That's aside from the irritation caused by the rock dust. Something else I read that I had not considered is that working or just walking in heavy dust causes you to breath harder and that results in breathing the fine particulates deeper into the lungs.

**Wildthang** · 04-01-2014, 02:18 PM

Originally Posted by Rick

From what I've read....take that for what it's worth. The dust is actually a form of rock and glass dust. The glass dust can actually cut the air passageways and lungs causing blood loss. That's aside from the irritation caused by the rock dust. Something else I read that I had not considered is that working or just walking in heavy dust causes you to breath harder and that results in breathing the fine particulates deeper into the lungs.

Yeah that sounds about right. I suppose that if you were caught without a dust filter or repirator, even a wet cloth over your mouth and nose would be way better than nothing!

**1stimestar** · 04-01-2014, 04:35 PM

Our airport gets shut down once every couple of years for volcanic ash. I once got stuck in Juneau for a couple extra days when Mt. Redoubt blew. These are not the worse case scenarios some of your are talking about but a real every day life pain in the butt occurrence. So yes, it is good to be prepared for them. Do you have a few days extra food even so that you don't have to drive your car in it? Do I have a few days extra water? Sometimes not. Don't let your pets out in it.

Edited to differentiate between volcanic ash and wild land fire ash which is at least a once a summer occurrence.