What are the dangers and benefits of Mt. St. Helens?

One of the biggest benefits there is for Mt. St. Helens, is that it provides us with geothermal engergy. Geothermal energy is basically energy that is stored in the form of heat in the Earth. We use geothermal energy to heat buildings, and for other purposes as well. We also recieve valuable minerals and fertile soil. When Mt. St. Helens erupted in May 1980, it caused an estimate of about $1.1 billion of damage not even including ash clean up, personal property losses, and the great loss of tourism. Within 15 minutes of the eruption, the ash cloud grew 80,000 feet, and fell nearly 300 miles from away from the mountain reaching the east coast within 3 days of the eruption. While the majority of the ash fell in the U.S., finer ash circled the Earth for at least 15 days after the eruption. The picture above of Mt. St. Helens was taken by Austin Post on May 18,1980.