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I live within 20 miles of this volcano. I've been reading the reporting. The further we've gotten from the original report the more FUD gets sprinkled in. This "article" takes the cake. Each time it notes that these events are really no big deal, the author precedes and / or follows with some form of "It's gonna blow ! / Be scared!". In fact, it's like they copy / pasted the original reporting and added BS drama for effect. Terrible article.

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Well for a look at how the pros do it, check out the FUDdy-duddys at https://www.express.co.uk/latest/yellowstone-volcano to see the UK-Express Yellowstone Article Roll of Doom. It goes on forever, and is now hilariously sprinkled with soap opera gossip from the Yellowstone TV series which is a shame, it used to be all volcano all the time.

Are the volcanoes in Washington worry worthy in any way? What’s your risk assessment personally?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_eruption_of_Mount_St._Hel...

I did the lahar hike to the 'now closed off' johnson observatory. The amount of terrain devastation that is still clearly evident over 40 years later is terrifying

Why was Johnson even there? There was a breakdown in risk assessment, particularly as the side of the volcano began to bulge.

Volcanoes give you a lot of warning and most in Washington are not located close to major population centers. The one exception is Mount Rainier, which is on the Decade Volcano list. Technically Glacier Peak is a similar distance from Seattle but it is a much smaller volcano and risk of damage is much lower. Historically the Cascade volcanoes only erupt something like 2-3 times per century and most are minor. It isn’t something anyone really worries about. Much higher risk from earthquakes.

I lived down range of Mount St. Helens when it had its major eruption in 1980. It was a regional disaster but the recovery was relatively quick and few people died despite the epic scale of it.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decade_Volcanoes

The suburbs southeast of Seattle are maybe at risk of lahar flows. The city itself and suburbs to the north are mostly not at risk.

It's a stretch to even say suburbs - more exurbs and some completely separate cities.

Sure. In the most extreme scenario I think there is flooding and debris coming up the Duwamish towards South Park and Georgetown.

Wow. I sit corrected - I had no idea it could impact so far north, but I see maps show flooding there potentially! Thanks for teaching me something new.

Tahoma is the most potentially destructive one. some projections suggest lahar flows reaching downtown Seattle in a worst-case.

https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/ofr98428

https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/mount-rainier-volcano-haza...

(Conventionally known as Mt Rainier.)

Here in seattle, volcanoes feel like an afterthought attached to the thing that's actually scary, which is the Cascadia Subduction Zone[1]. There's an hour long presentation from CWU [2] that's dry but fascinating, and pretty free of popsci FUD. When the CSZ eventually goes, it's gonna be truly catastrophic.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadia_subduction_zone

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ7Qc3bsxjI

The guy giving the talk in that video is Nick Zentner. He's great and manages to make what could otherwise be fairly dry content very interesting.... and he's got his own YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@GeologyNick

His "Ice Age Floods A to Z" series was must watch TV for me last winter.

Yeah, it was great ...and he's already prepping for a 'Cascade Volcanos A-Z' series starting this November 6 to Feb 15 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SVMH4ZA7cU

> it's like they copy / pasted the original reporting and added BS drama for effect

You just described most modern news media.

Not just modern - [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism]

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