Mt. Rainier Eruption ? (Seattle, Tacoma, Bonney Lake: insurance, lenders, house)

[CMKM-Miller]

I'm curious. I saw a History Channel show yesterday "Mega Disasters: American Volcano" and it highlighted Mt. Rainier. It refrenced Mt. St. Helens 1980 eruption and how luckily the area devastated was relatively uninhabitated but should the same eruption occur from Mt. Rainier, the results would be devastating - possibly over 20,000 killed. I think it mentioned the last eruption from Rainier was about 500 yrs ago. So I'm curious, is this something that crosses the minds of residents in the area. Apparently the path of any lajard (combination rock, pumice, debris, ice, etc.) would flow right into Tacoma and into Puget Sound. I'm in California and I remember growing up with earthquake drills. The show highlighted evactuation routes in the surrounding area. Is this a big deal for local residents ? How does insurance handle this situation ? My family and I are contemplating a move to the area and I'm curious about peoples thoughts.

[j_k_k]

I was a teenager living in south central Washington when St. Helens went up.

Frankly, Mt. Rainier becoming active again is something most people in the south Puget Sound area try not to think about too much. It would not be pretty. I have never heard of a single mass evacuation drill in Tacoma. I do not think one person in one thousand has seriously asked him or herself what he or she would do. I think it's safe to say you could kiss the skiing season goodbye at Crystal.

I have no idea what insurance says about it. I'm assuming it finds a way not to pay, because that's what insurance does best.

[mthomson]

There are some drills, but like jkk mentioned, it's not a huge deal. If it does blow, it'll truly be a disaster. It's really not something that we think too much about though. Earthquakes happen multiple times each year in Cal. Hurricanes happen yearly in the south. Tornadoes are a yearly occurrance in the mid west. If Rainier blows every 500-1000 years, that's a pretty good bet that it won't happen in your lifetime.
True, it may happen any time, but it may not happen for another 500 years.
Not something I'd let deter me from moving here.

[allforcats]

There are monthly evacuation drills in Orting, the town directly in the path of everything in the lahar, for all the school children, and drills less frequently for everyone else in Orting. Orting also has a loud siren notification system at various places around town. Rainier's last eruptions were a few different times in the mid- to late-1800s. Seismologists have placed many sensors in many locations in, on and around Rainier.

There are many threads here in the Washington and Seattle forums on our friendly neighborhood lahar, pyroclastic flow, volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis. Here are some:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/seatt...kes-yikes.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/washi...t-rainier.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/washi...pt-future.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/seatt...quake-due.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/vanco...insurance.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/seatt...insurance.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/seatt...flashback.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/washi...ton-coast.html

[CMKM-Miller]

Thanks everyone for the response. In know way would I deter the possibility of an eruption from moving to Western Washington, I was just curious about people's thoughts and if anyone had insurance info. Believe me, I live in California, been through the 1989 quake in Sonoma Co. Natural disasters happen. Where I currently live in Sac, we have to have flood insurance. I know they don't have Volcano Insurance so I'm wondering if simple home owners covers a chance volcanic eruption with lahar or would one also have to have flood insurance. That's all.

[tudorjason]

It crosses my mind everytime I happen to drive along Valley Avenue in my town of Sumner. Valley Avenue, officially known as Hwy 162, leads into Orting. It isn't a thought that happens everyday and it's usually fleeting.

It is scary to think of what could happen, but you can't allow yourself to think about it a lot or it'll run your life. But I will never live in Orting; the time it will take to drive from Orting to where I live in Sumner would probably be the same amount of time it would take for me to run and climb up the hill to Bonney Lake if I needed to - and that amount of time could save my life.

[mthomson]

I don't think that there is any insurance for it. I'm not in insurance, but none of the clients whom I've ever had have had it offered to them, and certainly no lenders have ever requested it. I don't know if it's because it's such a remote chance or if it's more that the destruction would be beyond insurable.

[ochoco]

I remember a dream (nightmare?) vividly I had several years ago. I was living in Leavenworth (where I lived for years). It was early in the day and there was this tremendously loud explosion that shook everything. I stepped out of my house only to be startled by a massive plume of smoke to the SW. Turned on the radio to learn that Rainier had erupted. They were urging the immediate evacuation of the entire Western portions of the state. Early reports stated that the entire area from Rainier to Tacoma had been almost instantly obliterated with an estimated death toll of at least 100,000. We got in our car and headed east as well, only to be met with highways clogged with others fleeing the eruption as well. That's when I awoke. End of nightmare and end of much of Washington as we knew her.
It's a scary scenario I know, but it is not a question of whether it will happen, but rather when. All of the Cascade volcanoes are dormant, not dead. Mt. Rainier will come out of it's sleep one day with devastating consequences. So, if you've not visited the National Park, I urge you to. It is one of the most beautiful mountains on Earth.

[allforcats]

Ochoco, what a fascinating and specific dream! Thank you so much for sharing that with us! One lesson: drive north, not east

You're right -- go visit Mt. Rainier. She's sooooo beautiful!

[Ira500]

I don't think that there is any insurance for it.

And if there were there would be some kind of " lava and ash exception" that wouldn't cover any damage as a result of molten lava, ash, or flooding caused by the eruption.