The Economic Effects of the 1980 Eruption of Mount St. Helens on Local Citizens

The Economic Effects of the 1980 Eruption of Mount St. Helens on Local Citizens On May 18, 1980, the eruption of Mount St. Helens in southwest Washington resulted in the death of 57 people and countless animals, damage to human settlements and facilities, and the accumulation of thick ash and chemical substances. In addition to social and environmental effects, economic effects would harm local citizens’ lives within next several months.

This paper will present three economic effects of the eruption and demonstrate how they affected local citizens’ lives.Three economic effects were loss of tourism dollars, disruption of import, and decline of local agriculture markets. The first effect was tourism loss. The travel-related industry is the largest employer in Washington (Kreck qtd.

in When Mt. St. Helens Blew Its Top 17). Unfortunately, after the eruption, the number of tourists decreased, which caused loss of tourism dollars. Because of loss of tourism dollars, the income of the local government decreased. As a result, the local government reduced some urban construction and the social welfare to uncover its loss.

Because of the lack of urban construction and the shortage of welfare fund, the standard of lives of local citizens became lower than they had expected it would. Some low-income local citizens were unable to maintain their families. The second effect was the disruption of import. The ashfall generated from volcanic activity is a great threat to the whole transportation system, especially to airports. Ashfall can result in the loss of visibility, disruption of communication systems, and damage to buildings and airplanes.The eruption of Mt.

St. Helens caused airport in Washington State to be closed for 15 days (Guffanti et al. 292). The closure of airports caused disruption, that is, many advanced elements of electronic products produced by overseas companies could not be delivered to local market by air. Local companies could only buy elements from markets in other cities therefore local companies would pay more expense. To retain the balance of profit and expense, local companies raised the price of products to recover expense.

As the price increased, the number of orders became less. According to supply and demand curves, the demand of the products decreased and local companies did not need as many people as they employed. As a result, local companies cut down the number of employees. This caused serious unemployment and poverty. The third effect was decline of local agriculture market. In some local areas, fruit drop caused loss of about 75 percent of the Red Delicious and 75 percent of the raspberries.

(Cook, R. J. , et al. 211).

According to supply and demand curves, if the demand of products is fixed, the price of products will increase as the supply of products decreases. The damage of fruit caused the price of fruit to increase as the supply of fruit to decrease. Because of the high price of fruit from local markets, some of local citizens bought fruit from markets in other cities to seek for a regular price. Instead of making profit, local farmers suffered the loss because most of their products could not be sold.

They chose to shut down the orchards or quit the market, which caused the local agriculture markets to decline.Because of the high price of fruit, local citizens bought fruit from markets in other cities to seek for a regular price. However, local citizens still suffered from the high price because of high demand for fruit from markets in other cities. In conclusion, the eruption of Mount St. Helen had economic effects that harmed local citizens. The three economic effects, that are, loss of tourism dollars, disruption of import, and decline of local agriculture markets, caused high price of fruit ,unemployment and poverty.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Works Cited Cook, R. J. , et al. “Impact on Agriculture of the Mount St.

Helens Eruptions. ” Science 211. 4477 (1981): 16-22. Print.

Guffanti, Marianne, et al. “Volcanic Hazards to Airports. ” Natural Hazards 51. 2 (2009): 287-302.

Print. Kreck, Lothar A. “When Mt. St. Helens Blew Its Top.

” Journal of Travel Research 19. 4 (1981): 16-22. Print.