Mt. ReDoubt Update: Ashfall Blues

The ashfall has subsided in Homer from this morning's eruption of Mt. ReDoubt. We just got back from an excursion around town to check out the aftereffects. It's a real mess out there. We collected a couple of small plastic bags full of ash with little effort.

Face masks are mandatory right now. There is a light coating of ash everywhere. If you encounter another car while driving, you'll find yourself quickly enveloped in a swirling, thick cloud of ash that diminishes visibility to just a few feet/meters.

The first photo is of my son's handprint impressed in the ash on a halibut cleaning board down on the Spit. The second photo shows the accumulation of ash on the windshield wipers and hood of our car taken just after the ashfall from the current eruption ceased.

The Unified Command's plan to draw down 3 million of the 6 million gallons of oil from the storage tanks at the Drift River Oil Terminal has been put on hold. A crew is currently at the site to evaluate the impact of this eruption on the facilities.

(click on photos to enlarge)