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Governments all over the world must prepare to give
adequate warning of potential disaster and be ready to
organize speedy evacuation if need be. This means that
resources such as television, radio, and a sufficient road
network be available. For many places around the world,
however, this is not the case.
This can be
especially true of many communities living close to
volcanoes. Many poor countries do not have the resources to
notify and evacuate people. Densely populated areas have to
deal with being able to efficiently move large numbers of
people as quickly as possible.
Since different
types of volcanoes can produce different forms of disaster
damage, it is important that governments and community
planners be knowledgeable about the type of volcano each
area must deal with. Each community then should plan ahead
as much as possible in order to be ready for a possible
eruption. It is important that all residents of these areas
take the time to find out about their community's disaster
preparation plans. In the United States, county and/or state
governments all have civil defense agencies which help
coordinate disaster plans.
Each community
must know the potential eruption risk of the volcano in
their area. Just because a volcano has not erupted for
hundreds of years does not mean that the volcano is no
longer dangerous. Numerous volcanoes along the Cascade
Mountains in the Pacific Northwest have the potential to
erupt explosively. One of these volcanoes did just that in
1980, with the destructive eruption of Mt. St. Helens.
Worried city planners in the densely populated area of
Seattle, Washington are currently involved in serious
preparations for the potential eruption of Mt. Rainier,
which last erupted in 1882. Miles upon miles of homes have
been built in the path of projected pyroclastic
flows.
For the most
part, the people of Hawaii have to deal with volcanic
eruptions that produce slow-moving lava, which allows time
for people to safely evacuate. However, many homes and
historic landmarks have been lost to these unstoppable fiery
flows. Planners living in the shadows of Italy's Mt. Etna
have met with some success in building lava barriers to
protect towns but such efforts have not yet been found
possible for the communities of Hawaii.
It is known that
Hawaii's currently active volcano of Kilauea does have a
history of explosive events. It seems to erupt once every
300 years. The day will come when it will happen again. The
Hawaii Volcano Observatory and Hawaii Volcano National
Park's Jaggar Museum sit right on the potential explosion
area.
It is expected
that the currently inactive volcano of Maunea Loa, which
last erupted in 1984 and threatened the city of Hilo, will
erupt again. Hualalai Volcano last erupted in 1800 and is
still considered potentially active. Mauna Kea, last active
some 4,000 years ago, may yet give one final blow before
completely dying.
Haleakala, on the
island of Maui, last erupted in 1790 and is now entering a
period of possible eruption.
Fortunately,
scientists from all over the world have come to Hawaii to
study its volcanoes. The people of Hawaii have benefited
from the extensive knowledge that has been learned and have
used this to develop their community disaster plans. New
instruments for measuring a wider variety of eruption
indicators have been developed and are in place. The work
done in Hawaii made it possible to give a better warning for
the 1980 Mt. St. Helens eruption.
The people of
Hawaii can rely on their civil defense agencies and the
state's emergency broadcast system to keep them informed of
any potential volcanic hazards. They can also log in to the
Hawaii Volcano Observatory website at:
http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/
Remember, being
well-informed means being well-prepared.
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