Disclaimer: Mike & Kelly Roark and Dr. Amy Barnes from Volcano are property of 20th Century Fox. Harry Dalton, Rachel, Lauren and Graham Wando from Dante's Peak are property of Universal Pictures. I am not making any money, and it was written only for enjoyment for myself and other fans.
Rated PG-13
Summer, 1997:
After Harry Dalton and the Wando family were rescued from the mine at Dante's
Peak, they spent an overnight at the hospital for observation. Harry was treated
for his wound. All of them were released the next morning. Both Harry and Rachel
decided to move to Portland, Oregon. They fell in love and decided to move in
together. They had rented a house near Mt. Tabor Park and signed for an option
to buy the house. Harry said, "I would like to take you up to Timberline Lodge
at Mt. Hood just for us. We could spend a day to hike on the Pacific Crest Trail."
Rachel replied, "It sounds like a good idea. Lauren and Graham would love to spend a couple of days with my aunt. She moved to Portland just last winter. Whenever they see my aunt, they really like to spend a day at the zoo."
Harry replied, "Speaking about the zoo, we could really hike to the place known as Forest Park. At Forest Park, there is the Wildwood Trail that goes about 22 miles. It starts right from the Zoo's OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) parking lot and it goes way out near St. Johns Bridge. A few years ago, I had hiked from McCleary Park all the way to crossing St. Johns Bridge"
Rachel said, "I sure hope that Mt. Hood doesn't erupt during our lifetime."
Harry replied, "It came close a couple of times. There was a volcano watch just couple of years after the eruption of Mt. St Helens and it quieted down again. The Mt. Tabor Park was a volcano that had been extinct several thousand years ago."
Lauren replied, "If Mt. Tabor ever erupts; Portland would be the second active volcano city just like Los Angeles. Did you know La Brae Tar Pits became Mt. Wilshire?"
Harry replied, "Yes I remember that. This was a coincidence. This would be first time that two volcanoes erupted in the United States during one year. The one from La Brae Tar Pits erupted just about 4 months before Dante's Peak."
The next day, Harry and Rachel went to Mt. Hood and her kids stayed at her aunt's house. Harry decided to go to Timothy Lake to hike around. It was a hot day and both of them were attempting to swim in the lake. Rachel said, "We should have brought our swim suits. We could just go skinny dipping."
Harry replied, "I had gone skinny dipping at this lake several years ago with several people. People did it lots of time here especially during the 70's. I had seen people in their 50's and 60's doing that."
After a couple of hours of skinny dipping, they had return to Timberline Lodge. During the dinner, they had met Dr. Amy Barnes and Mike Roark from Los Angeles. Dr. Barnes said, "I'm also a geologist from Los Angeles. I was there when the volcano erupted from La Brae Tar Pits. I had lost one of my best friends when we were checking out the sewer line. We were just moving to Portland. When I was over in England for two years, I just happened to like the climate there. This place I'm now moving to would be quite similar to the English climate."
Harry replied, "Maybe you could work with me. I do travel to different volcanoes whenever they are becoming active."
Dr. Amy Barnes and Mike Roark stayed at the Timberline Lodge. They both fell in love and romanced during that night. The following year, both Dr. Barnes and Mike got married. Harry and Rachel had also got married.
Summer 2002:
Evacuation from Mt. Hood
Rachel was running for mayor of Portland. There had been a volcano watch warning
at Mt. Hood. Several tremors had rocked Mt. Hood. Dr. Amy Barnes Roark, Harry
Dalton and the geologist crew were getting ready to go to Mt. Hood to investigate
the volcano activity. They all went to Timberline Lodge and noticed the water
had sulfur coming from the faucets. Harry said, "This is exactly what happened
at Dante’s Peak shortly before the eruption."
Dr. Amy replied, "We'd better check that out. I don't like the looks of that."
Another earthquake was felt at Timberline Lodge. Harry and Dr. Amy went to the water storage and discovered the sulfur was leaking into the water supply and it was steaming. "Harry said, "We must go back to Timberline Lodge and tell everyone to evacuate. This is going to be very serious."
Dr. Amy replied, "I'm afraid this will be a major eruption. We must evacuate the whole Mt. Hood area. I had just noticed the bulge is much bigger near the crater. If you remember the Mt. St. Helens, it blew out more than 3000 feet of the mountain."
After they returned to Timberline Lodge, Dr. Amy announced for everyone in this lodge to attend the emergency meeting. Harry Dalton went to the podium and announced, "The reason we had to call all of you to this emergency meeting is that Mt. Hood is getting ready to erupt. This is the same pattern as Dante's Peak. There were several tremors and the sulfur got into water system. This is the warning sign for a major eruption. Please be calm and don't panic. Just get in your cars and start leaving now."
Several other geologists came in and informed Harry and Dr. Amy about the condition at the crater. The bulge was growing tremendously. Almost everyone from Mt. Hood evacuated. Some of them had refused to leave the mountain. Harry was heading to Hood River near Columbia River Gorge to warn people there of any possible flooding and Dr. Amy was heading to Gresham, which is a suburb near Portland. Her husband Mike was heading to Gresham to set up the shelter for the residents of Mt. Hood. After Mike arrived in Gresham, they went ahead to set up the shelter, which was the old grade school. Dr. Amy said, "It looks like this mountain is getting ready to blow. This is expected to be as bad as Mt. St. Helens and Dante's Peak."
Kelly asked, "Will there be fireballs shooting here like it happened at Los Angeles?"
Mike replied, "No, we are a good distance from there. That's why we evacuated the mountain. However, the ashes could come down here if the wind should blow in this direction. That's why we brought the masks. It's more likely that the ashes will go to Bend, Oregon according to the wind."
Rachel and her children came to Hood River to help Harry with the possible evacuation for any flooding. Lauren asked, "Is there any mines we could hide for eruptions?"
Harry replied, "No, we are pretty far away from hot ashes and having any trees blow down here. It's flooding we will have to worry about."
The Eruption
The next morning, Mt. Hood had a major eruption. It was spewing
steam and ash at least a mile into the atmosphere. The volcanic ash was raining
down at Bend, Oregon. Dr. Amy got on the helicopter and headed to Bend. The
National Guardsmen went to Bend to get the town evacuated. The ashes were so
thick they had to wear a mask to breathe. The National Guard ordered residents
at Bend to head down to Eugene, Oregon. One of the guards said to Amy, "I
saw you on television five years ago when you warned about the volcano at Los
Angeles. You must have known which way the lava would flow."
Dr. Amy replied, "Yes, I had studied physics and that’s how I determined the lava flow. If it weren't for physics, thousands of people at Los Angeles would have perished. Since Mt. Tabor at Portland is a volcano that had been inactive for thousands of years, a lava tube from that volcano might be connected to Mt. Hood. We should put the city of Portland on alert."
That guard replied, "Do you realize that the whole city would be in a panic if you are predicting that eruption? We'd better get out of here before the ashes stalls out the engines. We are going to open a shelter at Oak ridge which is few miles from Eugene."
It's looks like nighttime with those thick ashes. Two helicopters crashed as result of ashes getting into the engine. Several cars had stalled out due to ashes. The National Guard's trucks had brought more masks for people to breathe. By the time that they got to Oak ridge, they finally got out from ashes. The wind was blowing toward the east. Dr. Amy said, "My God, it looks like the ashes might be closer to two miles into atmosphere."
That guard replied, "It looks like that at least 3000 feet of Mt. Hood may had been blown just like what happened to Mt. St. Helens. This looks worst than Dante's Peak."
Dr. Amy got back to the shelter at Gresham. Mike and Kelly were helping the residents from Mt. Hood at the shelter. Mike said, "Before we got to Gresham, people at that shelter mentioned about a tremor just before the eruption. Just an hour before, the animals were acting crazy just like something was going to happen."
Dr. Amy replied, "If the animals act strangely at the city, this usually is a warning of an earthquake or volcano eruption. If this warning happens at Portland, we'd better take the warning seriously. I just have a feeling that there is a lava tube connected from Mt. Hood to Mt. Tabor. If lava is flowing in that tube, this could be very serious."
Kelly asked, "Does this mean Mt. Tabor is going to erupt?"
Dr. Amy replied, "One way to know is that I'll use a temperature test just like I did at Los Angeles. If it rises rapidly, then the warning will be issued."
Something came on the news about a flood warning at Hood River. Dr. Amy said, "Harry Dalton should be over there since he is predicting the flooding due to volcanic eruption."
The Flooding at Hood River, Oregon
The helicopters were flying over the town of Hood River. They were announcing
the evacuation near the river for flooding. The National Guardsmen had ordered
the evacuation near the river. The shelter was far enough away and higher up
from the danger of flooding. Harry, Rachel, Lauren, and Graham were helping
with setting up the shelter. Several people came to the shelter that were evacuated
near the river. Harry warned to the evacuees, "Do not cross any bridge
after the flooding. There is danger of bridges collapsing."
The river torrented rapidly with lots of debris and was very muddy. All the bridges washed out including the main bridge on I84 at Hood River. The Bonneville Dam located near Cascade Locks had opened the floodgates for safety. They had closed the dam for the visitors due to possible flooding or dam collapsing. The mud and debris continued down the Columbia River overflowing at the Bonneville Dam. They had closed the I84 from Cascade Locks and made a detour over Bridge of the Gods onto the Washington side of the Columbia River. They continued until they got to The Dalles Bridge to get to the town of The Dalles. The mudflow continued for several hours during the eruption. There was a major damage near the river. Rachel said to the evacuees, "If any of you are going west to Portland, you will have to go east to The Dalles and cross the bridge to the Washington side and cross the bridge back to Cascade Locks. This will be a long detour."
One of the National Guardsman came to shelter and said, "The area near the river will be closed until further notice. All the bridges were washed out. The I84 will be closed except for the local traffic. There is a detour to go onto the Washington side of the Columbia River from The Dalles to Cascade Locks. The Bonneville Dam is closed for the visitors."
Harry said, "When we will be going home, we can expect a four hours detour. Too bad we are not on the west side. It is not only 100 miles, but this will be a slow winding two-lane road on the Washington side. You can expect bumper-to-bumper traffic."
Rachel replied, "We'd better get up at 5:00 in the morning. Maybe we can beat the traffic."
Harry replied, "I think we'd better inspect the Bonneville Dam for any damages on the way back."
The next Morning, the Dalton family left the Hood River by detouring though The Dalles and drove down the Washington side. The traffic was slow. When they came to the Bridge of the Gods, the traffic had stopped due to paying the bridge toll. Harry said, "They should have closed the toll both during that time to keep the traffic flow. This is inexcusable."
When they got to the Bonneville Dam, the guard informed them about the closure of the dam. After Harry showed the tag for geologist, the guard let them in. Harry carefully inspected the dam and saw few cracks on the dam. Harry said to the manager, "Don't close those floodgates until the repairs are made. There is danger of collapsing."
Later that day, they got home and Rachel continued to campaign to run a mayor of Portland.
The Warning
Several days later, Mt Hood had quieted down. The town of Hood River had suffered
major damages from flooding. Bonneville Dam had been going under major repairs
for cracks. There had been several tremors in the city of Portland. Some unusual
activity in the street sewers had been going on at Gresham. Dr. Amy and Harry
went there to investigate the activity. Dr. Amy and Harry went down into the
sewer tunnel under the street with the equipment. They had discovered a burned
body in the sewer tunnel. Dr. Amy said, "This is exactly what happened
at Los Angeles before the eruption. This body looks like he was burned from
a burst of steam. The temperature was rising. We better get out of here."
Harry replied, "I just found a big crack and I saw a river of lava flowing beneath this sewer tunnel. Let's get the hell out of here."
As soon as they got out of the sewer, another tremor rumbled. All of a sudden, several manhole covers blew off with the steam and caused an instant burst of fire. Harry said, "It looks like there is a lava tube running under those sewers and probably connected to Mt. Tabor. We better inform the city and prepare for the evacuation. We better evacuate the city east of the Willamette River."
Dr. Amy replied, "I don't know how we are going to evacuate millions of people from the city. Let's go to Mt Tabor and see if it is getting hotter."
Dr. Amy and Harry checked out Mt. Tabor, which is a city park. There are reservoirs at the west side of Mt. Tabor that supply drinking water for Portland. They decided to check the temperature at the reservoir. Dr. Amy said, "I just found hot mud running into the reservoir."
Harry replied, "I'm going home and getting my wife to inform the people to evacuate."
When Harry got home, Rachel had discovered the muddy water coming out of the faucet. Harry said, "We got to have an emergency meeting immediately. There is a warning sign for Mt. Tabor to erupt. We must evacuate the city on the east side of Willamette River."
Rachel replied, "We'll go downtown and there are several old buildings we could use for shelter. There should be several places in the state of Washington that could be used for shelters. I do not know how we are going to get millions of people to evacuate. I'm worried about the panic."
The National Guardsmen came to the emergency meeting to discuss the plan for evacuation. Rachel took all her kids to the meeting. All of a sudden, the birds were acting strangely and flying as if they were in a panic. They could hear dogs barking all over the city.
Last Days
An earthquake had struck Portland. This was a major earthquake and several buildings
were collapsing. Several people panicked and ran out into the streets. Several
bridges over the Willamette River had collapsed. The earthquake had read 8.2
on the Richter scale. The two bridges that stood were St. John's Bridge and
Sellwood Bridge. They did close those two bridges for safety until inspected.
Dr. Amy rode the helicopter to get to the east side of the river. The helicopter
flew over Mt. Tabor and they noticed the mud and steam running out from the
reservoir. They continued to go on the east side of Portland and saw steam coming
out of manhole covers. Dr. Amy said, "I'm afraid Mt. Tabor is getting ready
to erupt."
The helicopter pilot replied, "Let's get back to downtown. I don't know how we are going to handle those evacuations."
Another strong earthquake struck again. Mt. Tabor had erupted. This was more of a lava eruption along with steam and ash. The lava was flowing down several of city streets. Many buildings burst into flame from lava flow. It was raining ashes all over the city. They could not do any helicopter rescue due to raining of ashes. They called for the National Guard and fire department to control the lava flow. Dr. Amy and Harry were both working together along with National Guardsmen. Harry said, "Since the lava is flowing on the west side of Mt. Tabor, we should get people to move to the east side of the volcano at least three miles from the volcano. We should redirect the lava flow to reduce the damages."
Dr. Amy replied, "They'll have to dynamite those high rise buildings to block the lava flow. That's what we did at Los Angeles to save the hospital."
One of the hospitals located at northwest of the volcano were taking several injured and burned people. The lava was heading toward that hospital so the fire department was putting up a barricade to stop the lava flow. Several fire trucks were using hoses to cool down the lava flow. The National Guardsmen dynamited several of the high-rise buildings to barricade and redirected the lava flow from south side of the hospital. They even created the gullies by blasting the streets so the lava would flow in the storm drains. The lava then flowed down the I84 freeway to Willamette River. Both Dr. Amy and Harry were volunteering to work at that hospital. Harry said, "The ashes are blowing more of southeasterly direction. Maybe we could get helicopters going in the North West direction to get to downtown."
Dr. Amy replied, "I got the word from one of the National Guard who informed me that people are driving over the St. Johns Bridge. It may be safe to travel over that."
The next day, Dr. Amy and Harry went to the north section of Portland to set up a shelter. Rachel and the family and Mike and Kelly came there. Lauren and Graham met with Kelly. They had talked about their experiences. Kelly said, "I got burned when I was at Los Angeles, this would make my second city in the row that volcano erupted."
Lauren replied, "We were trapped in the mine to escape the burning ash until the rescuers came. We used to play in that mine before the volcano erupted."
Several days later, the west side of Portland was buried with lava from Mt. Tabor to Willamette River. It had blown out the west portion of Mt. Tabor. It had blown out approximately 5,000 feet of Mt. Hood. Rachel had brought this up to rename Mt. Tabor as Mt. Tabor Volcanic Preserve. They decided not to rebuild anything over the lava beds. Both Harry Dalton and his family and Mike Roark and his family moved over to West Hills on west side of Portland where they had a good view of Portland.
THE END