After the eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980, caused catastrophic damage in southwest Washington and sent ash throughout the Northwest, President Jimmy Carter visited the area to survey the aftermath.
Howard Berkes, then a freelancer for National Public Radio, captured audio of Carter after he flew over the disaster zone. “43 yrs ago today, I was in 1 of 7 helicopters flying with Pres Carter above the blast zone of Mt St Helens. Carter struggled to describe what he saw. We were face-to-face in the gaggle of reporters on the tarmac,” Berkes said on Twitter.
“It’s an unbelievable sight,” Carter told reporters in Kelso, Washington, after he flew within three miles of Mount St. Helens. “The devastation there is probably — well, it’s much more complete than I had believed.”
His Marine Corps helicopter had to turn back after encountering a snowstorm. “There’s nothing like this in the world,” Carter said on May 22, 1980. He explains in detail what he saw — “icebergs as big as a mobile home” — before his helicopter had to turn around.
The Oregonian reported, “The initial explosion was heard more than 150 miles away.” The force flattened forests and triggered flash floods and massive mudflows.
The Oregon Journal warned that the “angry mountain” might not be done even after an eruption “greater than the force of an atomic bomb.”
“Someone said it looked like a moonscape,” Carter said, “but the moon looks like a golf course compared to what’s up there.”
