Harry And The Mountain

HARRY AND THE MOUNTAIN

On March 17th of 1980, a radical thing took place in the state of Washington, something that hadn’t happened in at least 123 years.

It started when an earthquake registering 4.1 on the Richter scale was reported near Mt. St. Helens in S.W Washington. Forest rangers were notified of possible dangers that could happen, including the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, a volcano. Scientists flew in from all over to access the explosive potential of the mountain. They painted a frightening scenario of future destruction; residents were warned to evacuate.

Living on that mountain was an old man named Harry. He had lived there for quite some time with his 16 cats. Harry bragged, "Nobody knows more about this mountain than Harry, and it don't dare blow up on him!" When sheriff's deputies ordered Harry to leave, he responded by saying, "I am having a heck of a time livin' my life alone. I’m king of all I survey, I've got plenty of whiskey, I’ve got food enough for 15 yrs. I am setting high on the hog; I am not going anywhere."

But then it happened: Sunday morning March 28th, the mountain exploded w/ a force that was 500 times greater than the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. Huge rocks were sent flying, landing 14 miles away. Huge redwood trees were leveled. The warnings were over--there was no more time to run!