8006 Newspaper articles USA

8006 Newspaper articles USA

=== Page 1 of 19

FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 1980 Oregonian "POWER" ATTACK (LINGER)

# Barricades to ring storm-stricken city

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) -- Authorities said Thursday that they plan to seal off this suffering city of 40,000 people where tornadoes crushed 700 homes and businesses and left water and power systems in shambles.

Police Chief Howard Bacon said law enforcement officers and the 260 National Guardsmen helping patrol the streets would throw up barricades at all entrances to the city Friday, sealing the town off for the weekend to keep away looters and sightseers.

Meanwhile, an 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew remained in effect.

"We want to keep away people who would like to come in here and see the damage," Bacon said. "We're sealing the city of Grand Island off. It's better to be safe than sorry."

Authorities said four persons were killed during Tuesday night's furious assault by up to seven twisters. Two other residents died after suffering apparent heart attacks while cleaning up the mess.

Four persons were arrested Wednesday night and early Thursday for violating the curfew or petty theft, and another was charged with assaulting a police officer. But Bacon said that generally, "looting has been minimal."

While the city strived to return to normal, Mayor Robert Kriz said officials were worried about the possibility of fire breaking out in the city, which had been without water pressure for nearly 48 hours.

"This is scaring us," said Kriz as crews worked to restore electrical power to homes and businesses.

"We're scared that the businessmen will turn on the juice, and that the building will have been shaken and damaged, and that there will be an explosion and fire," the mayor said.

Other city officials said arrangements had been made with fire departments in nearby communities to rush water tank trucks to Grand Island should a blaze break out.

City Attorney Keith Sinor said the tornadoes left about 700 structures, including more than 50 businesses, uninhabitable.

Assistant City Attorney Bill Shreffler said 34 persons were "unaccounted for" Thursday afternoon. Sinor emphasized, however, that the 34 are not considered dead or missing because many could have been out of town or staying with relatives and not in contact with city officials.

Scores of volunteers, including private construction firms with heavy equipment, began biting into the rubble that covers five separate areas of devastation.

TV broadcast on this announced World "Power" Attack

# Twisters hurt 80, damage 3 states

By The Associated Press

Tornadoes and violent thunderstorms roared through Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia on Tuesday, smashing mobile homes and injuring more than 80 people. Philadelphia police said a motorist was killed when a tree fell on his truck.

Western Pennsylvania bore the brunt of the de- Owen

massive Power blackouts!! Owen

THE OREGONIAN, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 1980 3M A9

struction, with nearly 80 persons taken to four hospitals in the region, most of them with minor cuts and bruises. At least three injuries were reported in Maryland and four in West Virginia.

The storms were part of a system that lashed the Midwest over the weekend and on Monday, killing two persons and injuring at least 35 in four states.

The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh said between seven and 12 twisters touched down in a path from the extreme northern end of Westmoreland County east to Indiana County.

At Edgewood Estate Mobile Home Park in Armstrong County, witnesses said between 50 and 75 units were blown apart. About 60 park residents were taken to area hospitals.

June 4, 1980


=== Page 2 of 19

- "Power" Attack (Linger Effect) -

Oregon Journal, June 4, 1980

# Twisters kill five in 3-state sweep

By United Press International

Late spring tornadoes devastated parts of Pennsylvania, Nebraska and West Virginia, killing at least five persons, injuring scores of others and leaving thousands homeless.

In Grand Island, Nebraska's third largest city, at least five persons were killed when a series of tornadoes swept through Tuesday night, leveling most of the business district, tearing roofs from at least four apartment complexes and trapping residents in their homes with downed power lines and collapsing walls.

Most electrical, gas and water service was knocked out throughout the city of 32,000. Hospitals neared capacity with injured and utility crews were out in full force trying to fix power lines and stop gas leaks.

Tornadoes also ripped through southern Ohio and Maryland, injuring several persons. High winds snapped power lines in Washington, Virginia and Maryland.

Thunderstorms whipped by 60 mph winds crashed into New York at rush hour Tuesday, toppling utility poles and snarling traffic for millions of commuters. Flights at local airports were delayed up to an hour by the storms.

In Pennsylvania, heavy rain accompanied by winds of up to 65 mph hit the eastern part of the state, cutting off electricity to 50,000 Philadelphia residents and claiming the life of Steven Paolino, 27, who was killed when a tree struck by lightning fell on him.

Nine tornadoes destroyed more than 250 mobile homes and injured 150 persons in what the National Weather Service called the "largest tornado outbreak ever" in western Pennsylvania.

One of the hardest hit areas was Apollo, Pa., in Armstrong County.

"It took about 50 (mobile) homes," said Rich Cappo of Apollo. "Thirty of these are completely destroyed. Some of those homes are stacked three high."

In Kiski Valley, about 25 miles from Pittsburgh, more than 200 mobile homes were toppled and 15 homes damaged.

"It's a disaster area," an eyewitness said. "Trailers are strewn around like matchsticks."

A 35-mile-wide thunderstorm spawned at least four and up to seven twisters in Grand Island within a three hour period, said a National Weather Service meterologist. Millions of dollars in property damage was reported and more than 1,000 people were left homeless. About 27 persons were reported missing.

At least eight persons were injured, including four members of one family, when a tornado stormed through Preston County West Virginia.

Police said the tornado touched down at least five times in the West Virginia communities of Reedsville and Kingwood, destroying at least three houses and seven mobile homes.

- "Power" Attack -

# Layoffs begin

RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) -- A major contractor for Hanford nuclear projects Nos. 1 and 4 has begun laying off workers as part of an expected weekend shutdown at the two plants.

Layoffs began Tuesday. Fred Read, project manager for Atkinson-Wright-Schuchart-Harbor, said members of four unions who are refusing to show up for work are forcing all his firm's operations to grind to a halt.

AWSH employs about 2,450 of the 4,000 people working on the projects. The work stoppage is expected to stop all work at the plants.

K.F. Nowakowski, spokesman for the Washington Public Power Supply System, said other contractors will stop working when they run out of things to do.

Ironworkers were hit first by the layoffs. A total of 525 ironworkers left the two plants Tuesday, said ironworkers union spokesman Pat Sanders.

Electricians and other workers are also being laid off, he said.

Oregonian June 5, '80

- "Power" Attack -

# Bolts to blame

SATSOP, Wash. -- Overstressed bolts in a crane boom probably caused the collapse of a 500-foot steel tower crane at the construction sites of two nuclear power plants here May 28, results of an ongoing investigation indicate.

The tower crane fell apart after it was struck by the broken boom, causing millions of dollars of damage and slightly injuring three persons when it fell into the Project 3 Reactor Auxiliary Building.

Orville Trapp, Washington Public Power Supply System manager of engineering.

Oregonian June 8, 1980

- World "Power" Attack (Linger) -

# Israel suffers second power outage

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) -- Israel suffered its second nationwide power failure in eight months Tuesday. Utility officials said they did not know the exact cause of the blackout.

Some factories, hospitals and newspapers switched over to their own emergency generators, but most of the country shut down early when the electricity failed shortly after 3 p.m.

Oregonian June 4, 1980


=== Page 3 of 19

"Power Attack (Linger)"

# Power surge ties up traffic

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A power surge at a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. substation Wednesday knocked out a 10,000-volt power feed line to the Municipal Railway, leaving several thousand commuters stranded.

The surge at 7:32 a.m. also caused a momentary power loss affecting most of the San Francisco bay area, said Dennis Pooler, a PG&E spokesman. Except for the Municipal Railway outages, there was no substantial loss of electrical service to utility customers, he said.

The effect on the city transportation system was more substantial.

"We are really in a bind," said Jim Leonard, director of public affairs for the Public Utility Commission.

Leonard said six trolley lines in the city were not operating and that diesel buses were being routed to pick up stranded commuters.

"That, of course, will leave the diesel bus routes short," he said.

Pooler said the power surge was caused by a "flashover" at the PG&E Martin substation that caused a 230,000-volt transmission line to be knocked out for a few seconds. The surge caused a ripple effect to other substations throughout the bay area, he said.

The surge apparently was caused by early morning rain.

"We're not sure, but apparently some water seeped into the substation where some dust had settled," Pooler said. "The dust acted as an electrical conductor, causing an arc, or flashover."

Oregonian June 5, 1980

"POWER" ATTACK

# Twister hits three states

By The Associated Press

A tornado churned through parts of Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania late Friday, knocking down a number of rural buildings, trees and power lines, but causing no serious injuries, authorities said.

Two children suffered minor cuts and bruises when their mobile home in Carroll County, Ohio, was demolished by the twister, according to the Carrollton Fire Department. Several unoccupied buildings near the residence also were damaged, a spokesman said.

The twister then spun through Jefferson County, Ohio, around 8 p.m. A farmer told the county sheriff's office he saw the tornado pass along a ridge, uprooting trees amid a cloud of flying debris.

Oregonian June 7, 1980

WORLD RAIN ATTACK

# Storm slashes Scots

NAIRN, Scotland (AP) -- A freak tornadolike storm struck this seaside resort Thursday, flipping over dozens of vacation trailers and blowing out windows. Nine persons were reported injured, two seriously.

The scene at the town's trailer park was like "something from a war," said a witness. "There's nothing left -- just pulp." More than 40 trailers were overturned.

Torrential rain, accompanied by thunder, lightning and large hailstones, quickly flooded roads in the northern Scottish town, situated near the battlefield of Culloden, where Bonnie Prince Charlie's Scottish Highlanders were defeated by the English army in 1746.

"It was more like a tornado than anything else. It was all over in 10 minutes, but everything came to a standstill," said town official Fiona Campbell. "It was like the tropical storms you see on the pictures. I have never seen anything like it in my life."

Oregonian June 6, 1980


=== Page 4 of 19

Saturday, June 7, 1980 15¢

# Experts find volcano blast odd mystery

By JAMES LONG
Journal Staff Writer

How did Mount St. Helens erupt violently enough to flatten 12 miles of forest without killing any of its known victims by the blast?

This is one of many mysteries facing scientists in the wake of the May 18 eruption that took the lives of at least 24 persons and left another 50 missing.

Although the eruption has been compared with a 25-megaton nuclear bomb explosion, not even the three victims found within a mile of ground zero were killed by the blast, Dr. Don Reay, King County, Wash., medical examiner, said Friday.

"This has been one of the surprising things, the general lack of blast injury," agreed Dr. Larry Lewman, assistant Oregon medical examiner whose office performed eight of the autopsies.

Of the 22 victims studied thus far, three died of burns, 17 died of apparent suffocation from inhaling large amounts of hot ash, and two died of delayed lung failure from inhaling hot ash, the doctors reported.

Tim Hait, a U.S. Geological Survey geologist, said the USGS, too, is puzzled by the lack of explosion-caused deaths.

"It's one of the fascinating questions that has come up, and we've certainly wondered about it," Hait said. "Trees were knocked down 12 miles to the north. Cameras were knocked off their tripods.

"There were a lot of signs of blast. But as to why people didn't show an effect, I have nothing to contribute. We (USGS) have no hypothesis right now."

At the University of Oregon Center for Volcanism, professor Gordon Goles speculated that the shock wave of the eruption was sub-lethal because it moved perhaps at the speed of sound rather than supersonically.

"A supersonic shock wave moves faster than the atoms in the air can get out of the way," Goles explained. "This means there is high energy at the front of the wave, and a vacuum behind it. People get compressed and decompressed very rapidly. This is what happens in a blast and why it kills."

Although most of the victims died as an immediate result of ash-plugged air passages, the medical examiners also found signs of potentially fatal heat damage in the lungs.

Reay said the hot ash -- estimated at 300 degrees Fahrenheit many miles from the crater -- did two things in the lungs:

* Seared the mucous lining, causing swelling and an accumulation of fluid.
* Seared and impaired the cilia, tiny hairs that grow in the throat and on top of lung cells and pass large, invading particles out of the lungs like a bucket-brigade.

"Most of these people were overcome so quickly that the thermal effects didn't make any difference," Reay added.

The only people whose deaths were attributed directly to burns were members of a prospecting party working within a mile of the crater when the eruption occurred, Reay said.

Oregon Journal

A normal-speed sound wave doesn't pile up a battering-ram of air atoms and doesn't create a vacuum behind itself although the total amount of energy can still be extremely large, Goles went on.

"A rough illustration," he said, "is that a man can lean into a strong wind without being blown over -- but a billboard might be knocked down because the wind is pushing on a larger surface.

"We could guess that the trees went down mainly because they present a large surface area for a shock wave to push on."

Goles, too, said he was "surprised" by the medical examiners' findings that people weren't killed by blast. He said the evidence will have an important bearing on determining the physics of the eruption, "although it's tragic and unfortunate that the evidence comes to us this way."

According to Lewman and Reay, the normal signs of percussive deaths are ruptured eardrums and other organs affected by sudden compression and decompression.

Note:

The Mt St Helens explosions... a warning from the SIs and Pyrlve!!!

Owens *

+ RE the Base


=== Page 5 of 19

Oregon Journal June 11, 1980 "Power" Attack and Florida Demonstration (Linger Effect)

# Twister slams Palm Beach

By United Press International hurricane strength!

A tornado packing 92 mph winds ripped through the Palm Beach International Airport, damaging or destroying 40 to 50 small aircraft and causing an estimated $1 million in damage.

In Columbus, Ind., a workman was killed when a gust of wind during a violent thunderstorm Tuesday afternoon lifted the roof from a condominium under construction and hurled it to the ground, striking Walter Eugene Hamilton, 52. A second worker was treated for arm and rib pains and later released from a local hospital.

The thundershowers in the West Palm Beach storm dumped more than 2 inches of rain on the county. Power lines were down in many areas and trees toppled. Florida Power & Light Co. reported scattered power failures affecting about 500 families.

The National Weather Service said the tornado at Palm Beach International Airport touched down shortly before 4 p.m. Tuesday.

The damage estimate of $1 million was made by Alan Richter, the county Civil Defense communications coordinator. He said there were 40 to 50 planes damaged or destroyed -- some of them flipped onto their backs.

Tornadoes also swept through portions of Texas, Colorado and Kentucky, causing no injuries and only minor damage.

The Great Lakes region remained unusually cool with night temperatures nearing the freezing mark, but the mercury climbed past 100 degrees in the southwestern desert Tuesday afternoon.

The official hot spots reported in Arizona included Coolidge and Casa Grande with 112 degrees. Tucson and Phoenix trailed with 106 degrees.

Showers and thunderstorms were scattered from west Texas to eastern Colorado and lingered over the Atlantic seaboard.

The National Weather Service reported much of the nation suffered near record-breaking severe weather during the past two weeks, including about 350 tornadoes that killed six people. Preliminary figures showed 1,000 reports of severe weather received at the National Severe Storms Forecast Center in Kansas City, Mo.

Forecasters issued nearly 100 severe thunderstorm and tornado watches during the period from May 25 to June 7, in addition to numerous warnings issued by local National Weather Service offices.

Preliminary figures for the states having the most tornadoes during the period included: Indiana 35, Iowa and Nebraska 29, South Dakota 28, North Dakota 27, Minnesota 26, Kansas 23, Illinois 21, Texas 18, Ohio 16, Wisconsin 15 and Pennsylvania 13.

In Buffalo, N.Y., where the sight of snow is usually nothing new, June snow has become a novelty. The National Weather Service said traces of graupel, a hard snow somewhere between sleet and regular snow, were recorded early Wednesday.

Oregon Journal, June 16, 1980 (2)

# "Power" Attack Storms, tornadoes kill four

By United Press International

Weekend tornadoes and thunderstorms ripped through Maryland and Virginia, killing at least four persons and cutting off electricity to thousands in suburbs around the nation's capital. Much of the Midwest was pummeled by high wind and heavy rain.

More than 100,000 power outages were reported Sunday in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs surrounding Washington, D.C. Two tornadoes touched down in northern Virginia in Fairfax County.

A boat capsized Sunday in a reservoir near Laurel, Md., drowning a 5-year-old boy and his uncle. Divers searched for the boy's body Monday.

A day of sailing on the Potomac River turned into an ordeal for a party of four when their boat capsized in winds gusting to 65 mph, killing one person who was caught in the rigging of the boat. Police reported another man was struck and killed by a tree.

The National Weather Service warned that the upper Great Lakes region may be in for unusually cool weather for late spring. Frost warnings were posted Monday for extreme northern Wisconsin and northeastern Minnesota.


=== Page 6 of 19

WASH.

SEATTLE
WENATCHEE
ABERDEEN
TACOMA
90
OLYMPIA
ELLENSBURG
5
YAKIMA
LONGVIEW
MT. ST. HELENS
ASTORIA
WOODLAND
VANCOUVER
Columbia River
TILLAMOOK
PORTLAND
HOOD RIVER
THE DALLES
ARLINGTON
SALEM
0
75
NEWPORT
ORE.
Miles

OREGON JOURNAL newsmap by Morrow

FALL ZONE -- Shaded area indicates where ash from Thursday night eruption of Mount St. Helens fell. Ash covered 4,500 square miles.

As an early morning rain began to fall, the ash turned to slippery muck and travel became extremely hazardous in some places.

"It's terrible out there," said Cindy Johnson of West Linn, who drove into Portland early Friday. "It was just like somebody was dumping mud on you. It was like mud clods coming down."

There was no major traffic problem on Interstate 5 in Oregon, but the Washington State Patrol said several automobiles stopped operating north of Vancouver when their air filters became clogged with ash. U.S. 30 from Portland to St. Helens was hazardous, and drivers were limited to 15 mph.

Portland police, wearing face masks and goggles, waited out the heaviest part of the ash storm in fire stations, precinct

(Continued on page 1A) ★

June 13, 1980

CLAUDIA J. HOWELL/Oregon Journal

GHOST TOWN, U.S.A. -- Main Street in Vancouver, Wash., U.S.A., has an eerie appearance as ash from Thursday night's Mount St. Helens eruption descends on the city. Areas north and west of Portland reported the heaviest accumulations of the gray, dust-like ash.

"Power" Mark
Oregon Journal
June 13, 1980

Continued


=== Page 7 of 19

"Tower Attack"
June 13, 1980
Oregon Journal

# St. Helens eruption spews grit over 4,500-mile area

By JAMES C. FLANIGAN and ROLLA J. CRICK
Journal Staff Writers

With a boom heard more than 135 miles away, Mount St. Helens spewed volcanic ash 10 miles high late Thursday night and spread the gray grit over 4,500 square miles in Oregon and Washington.

The eruption -- the third major blast of atomic force since May 18 -- left dozens of Pacific Northwest towns coated with the fallout, caused evacuation of 1,500 persons near the mountain and brought an order for a limited state of emergency Friday in Portland.

A huge dark, anvil-topped mushroom cloud was spotted by an Eastern Airlines crew as their jetliner passed near the peak about 9 p.m. Thursday. The major eruption, which took place at 9:11 p.m. and coincided with a violent harmonic tremor, was described by an observer aboard a U.S. Forest Service plane as looking "like an atom bomb -- very, very black, mushrooming way up."

Radioing back to ground geologists at the volcano watch center in Vancouver, Wash., the observer declared, "This is really a dandy!" He said the plume was two to three miles across, very dark, with no steam apparent in the volcanic cloud.

In rapid order, the Oregon emergency operations center in Salem was activated, Portland Mayor Connie McCready ordered city police into a Phase 2 alert, and a flash flood warning was put into effect for streams running off the mountain toward populated communities in the Columbia River Basin.

A 15 mph speed limit was ordered in the city. Some areas around Portland reported a quarter-inch covering of ash during the night, and city officials said there was more ash on the streets than fell when the mountain last exploded May 25. Airspace in a 150-mile radius of the mountain below 55,000 feet was closed by the Federal Aviation Administration and all commercial flights in and out of Portland International Airport were cancelled. The FAA later gave the go-ahead for flights to resume at 6:15 a.m. Friday after a 6½-hour ash fallout warning was lifted by the National Weather Service at 5 a.m. Friday.

No injuries were reported during the period of heavy eruptions, which extended from 9 p.m. Thursday to 2:15 a.m. Friday. The ash began falling rapidly in the metropolitan area like heavy gray snow about 11 p.m. Thursday. Counties in Oregon reporting substantial dustings of the ash were Multnomah, Clatsop, Lincoln, Tillamook, Columbia, Yamhill, Clackamas, Washington and Marion. In Washington, the ash hit Clark, Cowlitz, Skamania, Wahkiakum and Lewis counties. Light fallout also was reported as far north as Tacoma and as far east as Hood River.

From winds at approximately 35,000 feet, the ash drifted out over the Pacific Ocean on a southwesterly air flow. Winds at 50,000 feet carried more ash northeasterly from the mountain to give Yakima and Spokane a light dusting but not enough to measure.

Weather forecasters said that ash blown over the Pacific could move back inland somewhere over Northern California and then sweep around northeast as far as Idaho within the next 48 hours.

**Additional volcano coverage is on pages 1A, 1B, 7 and 14 of today's Journal**

Continued


=== Page 8 of 19

# *Ash spews over 4,500 square miles

(Continued from page 1)

buildings and restaurants responding only to emergency calls. Most people were reported taking the situation calmly, however, as the morning commuting hour began.

Persons were advised to stay home and indoors and do not drive unless absolutely necessary.

The ashfall came as events of Portland's annual Rose Festival moved toward the climatic Grand Floral Parade Saturday. City crews were flushing downtown parade route streets in preparation for the march and cars were kept off the line of route.

When the ash began falling like heavy gray snow, the downtown waterfront Fun Center was closed early Thursday night. Navy ships, which have arrived for the festival, were docked along the seawall when they received an unwelcome new coating to match their military gray exteriors.

The tiny mountain community of Cougar, now accustomed to evacuation, was buffeted by marble-sized chunks of pumice and other volcanic debris as a heavy smell of sulfur hung over the town.

Most of the 15 remaining Cougar residents left their homes immediately, although a few soon returned.

Cowlitz County Sheriff's Deputy Bob Covington said, "Some of the diehards don't believe it's really serious. They came out and after a while they went back in again."

Other more populated areas also were evacuated as emergency officials recalled the May 18 eruption that left scores of people dead or missing and devastated 156 square miles around Mount St. Helens.

The flood watch, ordered at 10 p.m. Thursday, was a precautionary measure. People were told to be prepared for quick action in case of sudden rises in the streams in the Toutle, Kalama and Lewis River basins and the Cowlitz River downstream to the Columbia.

Schools in Clark County, Wash. which still were not closed for the summer, were shut down Friday. Some power outages were reported as the combination of rain and ash shorted out electric lines. In the Hazeldell area of Vancouver, 8,400 homes were darkened at 1:50 a.m. Friday when five substations were put out of operation. By mid-morning, all but 2,800 homes were back on line.

In Portland, 200 to 500 customers of Portland General Electric in the southwest section of the city lost power.

Pacific Power & Light Co. reported it lost two transmission lines, one to Woodland, Wash., and one to Merwin, Wash., but no customers were affected. A spokesman said it was thought the heavy ashfall caused trees to collapse on the lines in the Lewis River area.

No problems were reported at the Trojan nuclear plant near Rainier, 30 miles from the volcano, where filters have been installed over all intake systems.

Pete Rowley, chief spokesman for the U.S. Geological Survey, said the latest eruption appears to be of less intensity than the Sunday, May 25, blast even though more ash was reported this time on the ground in Portland than experienced in the dusting 18 days ago.

The eruption came on the eve of a Friday the 13th high earth tide created by the moon's near approach to the Earth.

The upcoming earth tide had created fear that the volcano was ready to blow again.

Rowley pooh-poohed the idea originally, saying such an occurrence "would set science back about 10 years." Friday, he hedged his stand somewhat. "I cannot attribute this steam and ash eruption to a moon-tide theory, but I also cannot discount it."

By dawn Friday, the mountain had stopped venting. Harmonic tremors, which indicate movement of magma inside the volcano, had subsided.

The University of Washington Geophysical Center in Seattle reported "a very large event" recorded on its earth movement machine at 9:11 p.m. Thursday.

Most of those evacuated Thursday night near the danger zone were loggers who have returned to the area.

When the mountain erupted, the military and civilian search and rescue operation at the Toledo, Wash., airport was called back into service, although there were no reports of anyone unaccounted for throughout the long night.

"Power Attack"
Oregon Journal
June 13, 1980

Continued


=== Page 9 of 19

# As 'neighbor' blows

# Cougar residents wait it out

By JULIE TRIPP of The Oregonian staff

"POWER ATTACK"
JUNE 14, '80

COUGAR, Wash. -- A frog, bravely or maybe just plain stupidly, croaked a 12:30 a.m. greeting Friday from near the swimming pool at the Lone Fir Resort here, while a German shepherd, left behind in the evacuation rush, barked defiantly at the sky that rained pumice pinballs.

Besides the brave -- or stupid -- news crew, there was not a living soul in downtown Cougar. The tourist resort that has been the jumping off point in the past for countless vacationers and fishermen was an ashen, eerie ghost town, enlivened only by the spitting and crackling of short-circuited power lines.

The never-say-die Cougar residents traveled five miles west to Jack's Sporting Goods and Cafe, but they didn't leave the danger zone. They returned to their homes Friday at dawn after keeping an all-night vigil during the worst ash fall and pumice shower this Southwest Washington town has seen since Mount St. Helens awoke in March.

Twenty of them spent the night at the cafe, refusing to return through the gritty rain outside that guaranteed to ruin cars along with dispositions. Once they knew the mountain's ashy brooding would drive them no greater distance, they settled in to wait it out.

It started around 9 p.m. Thursday, while Dottie Elmire was watching "Barnaby Jones," and Renee Corso was in the shower. Mrs. Elmire runs the Cougar Store and Ms. Corso works for the U.S. Forest Service.

"You could hear the mountain whooshing, it sounded like a waterfall," said Mrs. Elmire.

When Ms. Corso heard the sound "like wind in the trees," and after she received a warning phone call from the Forest Service, she grabbed her coat and ran outside to find her neighbors and get her car.

"About halfway down the road, I realized I was getting hit in the head with rocks," she said. Chunks of pumice from one-half to one inch in size beat down on her.

Not far away, 6-year-old Scottie Livingston got in the car while his mother and other relatives gathered up the dogs. Alone in the car, the boy became frightened by the pounding of pumice, the noise and confusion.

"Scottie kept yelling 'Help me! Help me!' on the way down from Cougar," said his mother, Lois Livingston. The boy calmed down when the family reached Jack's Sporting Goods. By late evening he was telling people, "This is my first volcano, you know."

"Mine, too," said Jean Ragsdale, who owns the store with her husband, with a tone that makes you believe she hopes it'll be her last. The ash at Jack's was about a quarter of half-inch deep, getting thicker closer to the volcano and towards Cougar, where it piled up to about an inch.

The electricity, which threatened to go out all night with spasmodic blackouts, finally quit at 7 a.m. and was out for three hours or more. Limbs across lines and blown transformers had taken their toll.

Another refugee at Jack's, the retired Harvey Halverson, passed the pre-dawn hours by sweeping ash off the cafe carpet, and grumbling lightheartedly about his futile attempt with his wife to get some disaster assistance from federal officials in Kelso.

"Those disaster people," he said, then paused. . . "The only thing they put out is their breath, and they draw that in again."

Elizabeth Reese, the doughty 84-year-old who runs Reese Store and has lived near Mount St. Helens for 47 years, stayed at her home near Jack's. Friday she reported that she is "doing just fine among the ash particles" and that the rain is helping wash it away.

"We can live with it, I guess, if this is the way St. Helens is going to treat us," she said.

Staff photo by RANDY WOOD

NO FUN -- Jean Ragsdale shows size of pumice stone that fell on Cougar, Wash., Thursday night.

Continued


=== Page 10 of 19

# Rain holds down ash problems

Photos on Page E4

By STAN FEDERMAN, LESLIE L. ZAITZ and JOHN SNELL of The Oregonian staff

POWER ATTACK JUNE 14, 1980

Mount St. Helens remained relatively quiet Friday night, except for an occasional plume of white steam, in the wake of a Thursday night eruption that left a blanket of ash over lawns, homes and cars throughout Western Oregon and Washington.

The six-hour eruption, the second-most violent since the mountain reawakened March 27, scattered a thin layer of gritty ash from Seattle as far south as Medford and from The Dalles to the Pacific Ocean.

However, a steady, oft-times heavy rainfall that began within hours of the blast and lasted all of Friday helped wash down most of the ash in Portland and Vancouver, Wash.

The Portland Rose Festival Association said it would continue with its scheduled events, including Saturday's Grand Floral Parade. Portland public works crews labored Friday to flush streets clear along the parade route.

The National Weather Service predicted cloudy skies for Saturday morning with intermittent drizzles, which were expected to end shortly before the parade begins at 10 a.m.

A rainy morning would please state health officials. If it doesn't rain and the volcanic ash dries and becomes stirred up, they recommend that parade participants and spectators alike wear face masks or stay away entirely.

Seismologists at the University of Washington reported late Friday that Mount St. Helens was resting quietly. The frequency of small earthquakes on the mountain also continued to decline, they said.

"The mountain is essentially dead right now, seismically," said Pete Rowley, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. But he added that though silent now, "it (the mountain) could do the same thing again it did Thursday night."

concern that an all-day Friday "cleanup" of the ash by both public and private water customers had sharply lowered water reserve levels.

White steam plumes from the mountain continued on and off Friday, while visibility remained poor. Washington State police reported varying amounts of ash accumulations on highways; some had large amounts of it, others were practically bare.

Portland International Airport reopened Friday morning, after shutting down for several hours earlier to avoid ash-related problems with aircraft.

Additional details on Pages E1, E3.

A Geological Survey helicopter crew that landed on the north flank of the mountain Friday may have found the reason for the "red glow" that some observers reported during Thursday's night's eruption. Rowley said they found evidence of large incandescent pyroclastic (hot ash) flows in the Spirit and Clearwater Lake areas, and in the upper Toutle River Valley.

About 20 persons were evacuated from areas immediately surrounding the mountain Thursday night, but they were allowed to return to their homes Friday. There were no reports of injuries, deaths or missing persons resulting from the latest eruption.

"Evacuation is an advisory thing," said Rhonda Brooks of the Washington Department of Emergency Services. She said she had no idea how many persons might still be in the "red zone," which extends in a 20-mile radius around the volatile mountain.

Some 13,000 Vancouver families were without electricity from one to five hours Friday as heavy ash loads on power lines caused outages in the Clark County Public Utility District.

Vancouver officials also expressed


=== Page 11 of 19

"Power" Attack

# Colorado reactor has leak

PLATTEVILLE, Colo. (AP) -- Electrical generation at the Fort St. Vrain nuclear power plant was shut down Tuesday because of a malfunction which caused a minute release of radioactivity into the reactor building, the plant's operating company said.

Public Service Co. of Colorado said the helium circulator system at the plant malfunctioned at about 6 a.m. Officials said a small amount of radioactivity escaped into the reactor building but that there had been no measurable release into the atmosphere.

Don Warembourg, Public Service's manager of nuclear production, said radiation monitors at the plant boundary showed no increase in normal background levels.

"The problem in the helium circulator at no time presented a safety problem to the plant employees or the public," Warembourg said. "The helium circulator problem is a reliability problem, not a safety problem."

Warembourg said a modification to the helium circulator system would be made when the plant is shut down for refueling early next year in order to prevent any recurrence of the problem.

Public Service officials said they hoped to get the plant back in operation within the next couple of days. They said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Colorado Gov. Richard Lamm had been notified of the incident.

Fort St. Vrain, which has the only high-temperature gas-cooled reactor in North America, has been beset by a series of minor incidents over the past few years, including a small fire in its turbine room, a perplexing series of temperature fluctuations in the reactor core, and other instances where small amounts of radioactivity were released into the atmosphere. Oregonian 6/18/80


=== Page 12 of 19

Sunday March
The Atlanta Journal and

# Elberton Unveils Mystery Stones

United Press International

ELBERTON, Ga. - The northeast Georgia community of Elberton - "the Granite Capital of the World" - attempts to return to normal following Saturday's dedication of six massive granite monoliths constructed in the spirit of England's Stonehenge and shrouded in as much mystery.

Called the Georgia Guidestones, the monuments were conceived and paid for by an anonymous group who sent a front man using the pseudonym of Robert Christian to the grave-marker shop of Joe Fendley last June.

Between 200 and 300 people turned out Saturday as U.S. Rep. Doug Barnard pulled a sheet of black plastic from the monument.

Barnard told the windswept crowd that the 10 "guides," short pieces of advice for future generations carved in various languages on the stones, warned that the United States must preserve its resources because society and government are limited.

When Fendley was first told of the mysterious project, he called Wyatt Martin, president of the Granite City Bank, and asked him to meet with Christian.

"As soon as I heard his accent, I knew he wasn't from Alma or Waycross," Martin said, but what Christian had to say was more important than the way he spoke.

Christian told Fendley and Martin that he wanted to erect a monument, suitably inscribed, which would act as a guide for generations which would succeed the present one - a generation he partly expects to be all but wiped out in a nuclear war.

has been no public opposition despite the potential controversy of the first guide, which comes out strongly in favor of birth control. "Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature," the inscription reads.

The others are primarily common sense suggestions.

Martin said he knows the true identity of the mysterious Robert Christian, but he says he will keep it a secret.

"When I die, the secret will die with me," he said.

Martin said Christian told him he represented a small group of individuals who were interested in the future of mankind and felt it incumbent upon themselves to leave a mark for others to follow.

"He said he had visited the standing monuments throughout Europe and was particularly impressed with Stonehenge," Martin said, "but Stonehenge has no purpose, it is up to man's imagination."

Stonehenge, a circle of huge stones in southern England, is believed to have been erected in stages almost 5,000 years ago. Scientists are not sure who erected the stones, or why. The most probable explanation is the monument served as an astronomical laboratory or sort of open-air temple, or both.

After visiting rock quarries throughout the United States, Christian came to Elberton, the home of 30 granite quarries and 65 granite plants. A sign in the center of town proclaims the city is the granite capital of the world.

Christian directed the effort to build the monument, Fendley supervised the cutting of the stones, and Martin acted as a funnel for the financing from the anonymous group.

The six stones weigh a total of 107 tons. Four of the slabs, each 6 feet wide and 16 feet tall, are placed in a partial circle with a center stone, or gnomon, which is 3 by 16 feet, and a capstone, which is 6 by 9 feet.

Each of the four major stones is inscribed with 10 guides, or quasi-religious precepts, in eight languages representing the current major population groups - English, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, classical Hebrew, Swahili, Hindu and Spanish.

The top slab of Georgia Guidestones is shown at left. Each of the four major stones is inscribed with 10 'guides,' or quasi-religious precepts, in eight languages representing the current major population groups - English, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, classical Hebrew, Swahili, Hindu and Spanish.

The capstone has been inscribed with an additional message - "Let these be guidestones to an age of reason" - in sanscrit, Babylonian cunieform, Egyptian heiroglyphs and classical Greek.

A hole has been bored through the gnomon to align with the North Star and two slots were cut to align with the midwinter and midsummer solstices. A hole was also cut in the capstone to provide a sundial.

The site selected is a small hilltop on the northern edge of Wayne and Mildred Mullenix's Double-Seven ranch. Under provisions of the sale, Mullenix will retain grazing rights to the land for two more generations and will generally keep it under his supervision with several special provisions, including a prohibition against planting shrubbery above nose-height within the five-acre plot set aside as the monument ground.

There are plans to eventually encircle the present monument with additional stones aligned to follow the moon, providing a complete astrological pattern.

Dr. Charles Williams, pastor of the First Methodist Church in Elberton, said there


=== Page 13 of 19

(GUIDE MAGAZINE - YUCATAN)

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# DRIVING IN MEXICO

Now you have digested the speed limits, highway signs and rules of the road as they apply to Mexico. But something seems a little wrong: out of place, so as to speak. You quickly realize theory and reality are miles apart. At the last stop sign you heeded, everyone behind you honked his horn, and getting around those "glorietas" circles would cause your mother-in-law to have a cardiac arrest; not such a bad idea, but the thought came much later. Apparently, you conclude, the rules of the road as you know them are out in Mexico. Anarchy is what you finally conclude after going through the standard name calling game of; "they're all mad, crazy, bonkers, nuts, etc." After a while it's not the accidents you've seen, it's just you're amazed you haven't seen tenfold more. Ah, but you see amigo, there are rules, it's just the subtleties are not easily discernable.

Here are some ideas to keep you out of trouble:

1.- Like in sailing, there is an overlap rule. Simply stated means whenever you overlap the car on your left or right side you have the right of way.

2.- Never worry about what is behind you, just make sure you overlap the guy on your sides.

3.- Never give a signal to pass, you are merely inviting to be cut off. Never give up your position unless it means instant death to the other guy, and then think about it twice-time permitting.

4.- Never expect a break, unless you're a blond female, preferably with blue eyes.

5.- If your going to mess with the other guy, make sure you have more power than he does. If you don't, ignore him

6.- Sorry ladies, but in Mexico beware of women drivers.

7.- Stay away from buses. They are merciless. The same for trucks, except they don't move so fast.

8.- Be prepared, when you are passing, for the other guy to accelerate so you will be caught in no man's land entering the curve or coming over the hill. He is out to kill you, make no mistake. The way to prevent this is by taking a look at the car the other guy is driving and his age. Remember the more power under the hood rule.

9.- There is nothing wrong in passing on the inside, even if it means getting over on the dirt shoulder. Not recommended with less than ten years driving in Mexico experience, but it may happen to you so don't be surprised.

10.- "El que pega-paga". Universal rule meaning he who hits-pays.

11.- Never confide in any right of way rules except the overlap rule, so you are best off not knowing them.

12.- Never ignore a cattle crossing sign. I mean never. Assess the terrain around you, it is usually indicative of cattle in the area or not.

Now there is a lot more we can say on the subject, but this hopefully will give you a good start on the survival game.

10 GUIDE magazine


=== Page 14 of 19

Oregonian

A6 3M May 8, 1980 THE OREGONIAN,

Associated Press Laserphoto

ETHIOPIAN FAMINE -- Leaf-thin child cries in refugee camp for drought victims near Kenyan border. Area has been without rain for two years, and an estimated 1.5 million people have been forced into refugee camps to be kept alive by food "bombings" from relief organizations.


=== Page 15 of 19

Seattle Post-Intelligencer May 8, 1980

# Heartbreaking Cry of Hunger

-AP PHOTO

**********

A LEAF-THIN child puts his hands to his head and cries for food in a refugee camp for drought victims in the Ethiopian province of Gemy Gofa near the Kenyan border. The area has been without rain for more than two years.

An estimated 1.5 million people throughout Ethiopia and neighboring countries have been forced into famine camps where they are barely kept alive by food dropped by plane given through various relief organizations.


=== Page 16 of 19

# POPE VISITS AFRICA DROUGHT AREA

Continued from 12th Page

dresses he has made in each of the African nations he has visited.

The pontiff's appeal came at a time when conditions in the Sahel have improved. An international aid program is now focused on efforts to get at the roots of some of the region's problems--which reached their worst in the drought of 1972-74--and which include overgrazing and practices that speed erosion. In turn, these ills led to widespread famine and the deaths of tens of thousands from starvation. The hope of the aid program directors now is to improve basic food production to minimize the impact of future droughts and to develop reserves of food for such emergencies.

The Pope had flown to Upper Volta from Accra, the capital of Ghana. He received a motorcade welcome featuring a dozen bands blaring African songs of worship and celebration as he drove past the multitudes along the paved but dusty main street--between mud walls, stalls and tiny shops.

The Pope was in Upper Volta for just over five hours, but his appeal for the Sahel gave the stopover special significance.

He said he was addressing his plea to the international organizations already involved in trying to solve the problems of the region, to individual nations, asking from them "generous aid." He also called on scientists to find ways to halt the spread of the desert.

Crisis after crisis has occurred for the nations of the Sahel, as drought, erosion and a variety of related problems have led to starvation, the loss of valuable forage, grazing and crop land and the death of millions of livestock.

The streets of Ouagadougou, a city of contrasts, are lined with trees, their lush spring foliage surprising when contrasted with the dessicated outlying districts. Most streets are unpaved and dusty, like the square where the Pope celebrated Mass, but a lush lawn was growing in front of the residence of the president, Gen. Sangoule Lamizana.

The Pope's visit to Upper Volta and his coming here brought him for the first time to nations where animists, or spirit worshipers, are in the majority and where Muslims outnumber Christians--4 to 1 in Upper Volta, 2 to 1 in the Ivory Coast.

"The Muslim Community of Upper Volta Extends Its Spiritual Saluations," a banner over the main street of Ouagadougou proclaimed. In his address to Catholic bishops there, the Pope urged mutual respect between Catholicism and Islam and collaboration for the common good.

A4 3M THE OREGONIAN, FRIDAY, MAY 9, 1980

# Millions in Ethiopia face famine threat, journalist reports

By HARALD MOLLERSTROM

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- A new famine caused by a severe drought threatens millions of Ethiopians, according to officials from relief agencies and a journalist who recently visited the stricken East African country.

If major relief efforts do not begin soon, hundreds of thousands of people may die of starvation, Swedish journalist Lisbeth Hellberg quoted Ethiopian officials as saying on a tour of the stricken region.

The Soviets regularly help Ethiopians crush guerilla movements. But one official, when asked if the Russians had offered assistance in dealing with the famine, was quoted as telling the Swedish journalist, "We've got friends who help us with military hardware, but when we need other assistance we have to turn to the West."

Ms. Hellberg said she saw only one Soviet helicopter bringing in food to the stricken area.

About 1.5 million people are living in famine camps and more refugees come in each day, officials say.

Ms. Hellberg visited a refugee camp at Kalem, near a dried-out river at the border between Ethiopia and Kenya, and said she saw about 5,000 starving people arriving daily. She visited a small village which had lost 5,000 animals in recent weeks and where the population only had boiled water with sugar to eat, she said.

"The area has not seen rain for the last two years. We saw people digging holes several meters down in the river bed with their hands without hitting water -- nothing but soil. Seven hundred people died at that camp the week before we arrived," she told The Associated Press.

Hakan Landelus, secretary general of the "Save the Children" agency, who also visited Ethiopia, said: "It is impossible to describe the situation with words."

"When Ethiopian Social Minister Kassa Kabede told me that more than 5 million inhabitants were directly affected by the drought, I thought the figures somewhat exaggerated," he said, adding the famine is much worse than he expected.

Ethiopian officials apparently held back information about the situation at first, thinking they could handle it themselves.

But the country is running out of relief supplies, so in a desperate attempt to receive aid, officials took representatives of Western embassies and 30 foreign relief agencies on a nationwide tour, Ms. Hellberg said.

At a camp in southern Ethiopia, the journalist said she saw 230,000 people starving and refugees pouring in daily.

In Ogaden, a province disputed by Somalia and Ethiopia, two old DC-3 planes are airlifting four tons of food each day to Jijia and Debre-Dawa, but about 30 tons a day are needed.

In that province, more than 1 million out of 3 million people are starving, Ms. Hellberg said officials told her. Another 500,000 animals have died in the last three months, she added.

"There were people who had traveled 300 kilometers (187 miles) on camels only to find a poisonous waterhole," she said.

Officials fear the crisis will reach the proportion of the Wollo province famine in the early 1970s which claimed 200,000 lives.

"If there is no rain we will have 10,000 more refugees within a week and about 100,000 before the end of this month," Agelle Ashenati, a health ministry official, was quoted by the Swedish journalist.

"The entire country is hit by the drought, but the Southern parts have taken the worst brunt," Landelus said. "The country needs water, food and medicines."

Ms. Hellberg said Ethiopian authorities have been sending assistance to the stricken regions since January but that the government is running out of supplies.


=== Page 17 of 19

12 Part I-Sun., May 11, 1980 Los Angeles Times *

# Pope Appeals for African Drought Aid

By LOUIS B. FLEMING
Times Staff Writer

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast-In the dust of a sun-baked square in Upper Volta, the heart of the stricken Sahel, Pope John Paul II on Saturday sounded a world appeal for the victims of the region's persistent drought.

"I, John Paul II, bishop of Rome and successor of Peter, raise my voice pleading for I cannot be silent when my brothers and sisters are threatened," he said.

"I raise the voice of those who have no voice, the voice of innocent people who are dead because they lacked bread and water, the voice of fathers and mothers who have seen their children die without understanding or who still see in their children the effects of the hunger they have suffered, the voice of generations to come who must not live any longer with this terrible threat weighing on their lives."

Above, as he spoke, 45 broad-winged vultures circled slowly in a hot wind.

The appeal was made at midday in Ouagadougou, the capital of Upper Volta, one of the world's poorest nations, before the Pope flew here to Abidjan, the capital of one of the continent's most prosperous nations and the last stop on his 10-day tour of Africa.

Close to a million people lined the streets of this thriving West African city to give him a welcome equal to that at his first stop eight days ago in Kinshasa, Zaire.

On Saturday night the Pope celebrated Mass in a 50,000-seat stadium under a huge lighted cross, and Ivorian television broadcast the ceremony live to Christians around the world via satellite.

He was praised on arrival earlier in the day by the nation's president, Felix Houphouet-Boigny, for speaking out on world issues.

At Ouagadougou, a quarter-million people filled the shadeless central square, ignoring temperatures over 100 degrees to hear the pontiff.

"It is a question of international justice," he said, "above all toward nations that too often face these threats while others find themselves in geographic and climatic conditions that, by comparison, one must call privileged."

Sounding a call for more international help for the Sahel, the six-nation sub-Saharan region of more than 20 million people that has experienced devastating drought, he insisted:

"Solidarity in justice and love must not know frontiers or limits. Hear my appeal. Everyone, I beg you, hear this appeal, hear these voices from the Sahel and of all these nations that are victims of the drought, without exception. And to you I say: 'God will reward you.'"

It was his major address of the day and the single most important statement on social justice in a series of addresses.

Please Turn to Page 13, Col. 1

Note: Very luminous.
The Pope can only "appeal."
But PK Man can get the job done.
- Owens

Oregonian

# Famine strikes Africans

By BOB DIETZ
May 10, 1980

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP)-Drought and war have forced millions of starving people into refugee camps in Uganda, Ethiopia and Somalia, and hundreds of thousands face famine, relief officials said Friday. Thousands already have died.

Crops maturing in the fields offer hope that the shortages in Uganda will ease by July. But food reserves are vanishing.

The situation is growing more critical every day. Only the relief distribution programs have kept it from getting out of hand," John Woodland of Oxfam, the British aid group, said Friday.

The World Food Program, another relief agency, estimates 500,000 face famine in Uganda.

Corruption, inefficiency, indifference and low morale have embittered many aid experts here, officials said in interviews. Most agencies have sidestepped the government in distributing food, they said.

"I wouldn't dream of using the government to distribute what we bring in. Too much of it would simply disappear," an aid official said.

Black market food prices exacerbate the situation, officials say. Half-liter containers of milk, officially pegged at about 35 cents, are sold illegally on Uganda street corners for about $3.50.

In war-torn Ethiopia, officials this week turned to the West with a desperate appeal for drought relief. Relief officials estimate 1.5 million people are in refugee camps.

Ethiopia's rulers, who apparently suppressed news of the disaster earlier, took Western diplomats and relief agency representatives on an official tour.

Ethiopian officials said that in the Ogaden region alone more than a million of the region's 3 million people are starving.


=== Page 18 of 19

Rains

- WORLD RAINS -

THE OREGONIAN, MONDAY, MAY 26, 1980

# face disease, rustlers in battle to live

By BOB DIETZ

KAABONG, Uganda (AP) - Several times a week, Sister Rosetta walks in the fields around the mission school and collects bodies to bury in the cemetery.

"More people have died here in the last two months than in the previous 20 years," said the 35-year-old Italian nun, surveying more than 15 fresh graves. "A student told me he can't walk 50 steps in the bush without coming upon a body. And yet, if we had transport and medical facilities, we could treat these people. They wouldn't have to die."

The fields of Karamoja, a vast undeveloped area in northeastern Uganda, have produced little this year. Three years without rain have scorched the region, arid at the best of times. Disease rakes the nomadic population of 400,000 Karamojong cattle-herders. Armed gangs, immune to reprisal, destroy entire villages, killing hundreds and seizing any cows that have survived the drought.

Famine is gripping parts of Ethiopia, Somalia, northern Kenya and Uganda for the second time in seven years, turning millions into refugees and killing tens of thousands of people. Karamoja's problems are among the most severe in this nation of about 13 million people.

Rain returned six weeks ago and in a few days painted a deceptive green across the hills around Kaabong, a remote settlement of 1,000 persons near the Kenyan border. The rain was too late and too heavy. Some planted fields became swamps and relief trucks foundered on rutted, muddy trails.

Some plots are beginning to sprout but the chickpeas and maize won't mature for at least 45 days. Until then, relief supplies are the only hope for tens of thousands.

Western aid officials say only 2,400 tons of emergency food have reached the region this year; 60,000 tons are needed in the four-month period to avert starvation.

When food shortages developed in Kenya, officials kept 8,000 tons of maize meal they had agreed to supply. Ethiopia made 4,000 tons available but the food must be flown to Karamoja at a cost of $23,000 for each shipment of 30 tons. Only the United States and Oxfam, the British relief agency, have provided funds, and the airlift is going slowly.

Political instability and corruption in Uganda cause many donors to shy away.

Melissa Wells, American head of the United Nations Development Program in Uganda, estimates that 100 persons a day starve to death in Karamoja. A Roman Catholic priest says the daily figure could be as high as 500.

Since the Karamojong culture allows burial only for clan chiefs and their first wives, many dead lie where they fall. Sometimes parents strip the clothes from dead children and leave the bodies near the mission.

Students help lift the bodies from furrows and thickets, wrap children in white sheets and bury them at the mission with adult corpses, two or three in each unmarked grave. Decayed bodies are burned in the fields.

The Rev. Elia Ciapetti, senior priest at the Catholic mission, says about three-quarters of the cattle in Karamoja - hundreds of thousands of animals - have been taken by armed gangs. Since the Karamojong consider their herds as money in the bank, the normally poor region has been plunged into deeper poverty from which it will take years to recover.

Robber gangs rule supreme after defeating elements of both the Tanzanian and Ugandan armies in skirmishes that took hundreds of lives. The Tanzanians, who stayed on after expelling dictator Idi Amin a year ago, pulled back to the administrative town of Moroto several weeks ago. The Ugandan army, weaker than the Tanzanians, has made no serious attempt to gain control.

Rustlers use automatic rifles and anti-tank grenades looted nine months ago from an Amin armory in Moroto. Gangs of 200 or more live in the bush, undetected until they attack. There seems little chance in the immediate future that the government will be able to defeat the outlaws militarily.

In their half-starved condition, thousands of Karamojong have died of cholera and other diseases. Some 100,000, a quarter of the population, are believed to have fled the region, spreading disease and increasing pressure on limited food stocks elsewhere.

Foreign aid personnel say cholera and typhoid fever have killed more than 1,000 in the past month around Mbale, Uganda's third-largest town, south of Karamoja.

Neighbors of the Karamojong have reacted violently. Reports of stonings of refugees are common.

At Katakwi, in the Teso area, villagers fearing Karamojong incursions put their household goods on their heads and drive their cattle 10 miles south every night. Hastily organized militia groups, armed with scavenged weapons, are posted every few miles along the main road leading from Karamoja.

Around the mission, hundreds assemble every morning, holding empty bowls in hope that food will be distributed. More than 320 children live at a mission orphanage set up three weeks ago for famine victims.


=== Page 19 of 19

As 'neighbor' blows

# Cougar residents wait it out

By JULIE TRIPP
of The Oregonian staff

"POWER ATTACK"
JUNE 14, '80

COUGAR, Wash. -- A frog, bravely or maybe just plain stupidly, croaked a 12:30 a.m. greeting Friday from near the swimming pool at the Lone Fir Resort here, while a German shepherd, left behind in the evacuation rush, barked defiantly at the sky that rained pumice pinballs.

Besides the brave -- or stupid -- news crew, there was not a living soul in downtown Cougar. The tourist resort that has been the jumping off point in the past for countless vacationers and fishermen was an ashen, eerie ghost town, enlivened only by the spitting and crackling of short-circuited power lines.

The never-say-die Cougar residents traveled five miles west to Jack's Sporting Goods and Cafe, but they didn't leave the danger zone. They returned to their homes Friday at dawn after keeping an all-night vigil during the worst ash fall and pumice shower this Southwest Washington town has seen since Mount St. Helens awoke in March.

Twenty of them spent the night at the cafe, refusing to return through the gritty rain outside that guaranteed to ruin cars along with dispositions. Once they knew the mountain's ashy brooding would drive them no greater distance, they settled in to wait it out.

It started around 9 p.m. Thursday, while Dottie Elmire was watching "Barnaby Jones," and Renee Corso was in the shower. Mrs. Elmire runs the Cougar Store and Ms. Corso works for the U.S. Forest Service.

"You could hear the mountain whooshing, it sounded like a waterfall," said Mrs. Elmire.

When Ms. Corso heard the sound "like wind in the trees," and after she received a warning phone call from the Forest Service, she grabbed her coat and ran outside to find her neighbors and get her car.

"About halfway down the road, I realized I was getting hit in the head with rocks," she said. Chunks of pumice from one-half to one inch in size beat down on her.

Not far away, 6-year-old Scottie Livingston got in the car while his mother and other relatives gathered up the dogs. Alone in the car, the boy became frightened by the pounding of pumice, the noise and confusion.

"Scottie kept yelling 'Help me! Help me!' on the way down from Cougar," said his mother, Lois Livingston. The boy calmed down when the family reached Jack's Sporting Goods. By late evening he was telling people, "This is my first volcano, you know."

"Mine, too," said Jean Ragsdale, who owns the store with her husband, with a tone that makes you believe she hopes it'll be her last. The ash at Jack's was about a quarter or half-inch deep, getting thicker closer to the volcano and towards Cougar, where it piled up to about an inch.

The electricity, which threatened to go out all night with spasmodic blackouts, finally quit at 7 a.m. and was out for three hours or more. Limbs across lines and blown transformers had taken their toll.

Another refugee at Jack's, the retired Harvey Halverson, passed the predawn hours by sweeping ash off the cafe carpet, and grumbling lightheartedly about his futile attempt with his wife to get some disaster assistance from federal officials in Kelso.

"Those disaster people," he said, then paused. . . . "The only thing they put out is their breath, and they draw that in again."

Elizabeth Reese, the doughty 84-year-old who runs Reese Store and has lived near Mount St. Helens for 47 years, stayed at her home near Jack's. Friday she reported that she is "doing just fine among the ash particles" and that the rain is helping wash it away.

"We can live with it, I guess, if this is the way St. Helens is going to treat us," she said.

Staff photo by RANDY WOOD

NO FUN -- Jean Ragsdale shows size of pumice stone that fell on Cougar, Wash., Thursday night.

Continued