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Boomer the dog is well named.

There was an airplane that flew over the mountain the day preceding the eruption. It used some sort of heat detecting photography to determine what was hot and how hot. Had they developed the film of their findings immediately, they would have determined how dangerous it was and that they should have made their red zone much bigger and removed people up there. They didn't develop the film until Monday, the day after the mountain blew.

The wonders of science.

ON THE RECOVERY ~~~

"...The first hint of trouble came on March 20th, 1980, when the mountain gave a violent shudder, bouncing the Richter needle to 4.1. On March 27, the first eruption opened a crater and sent a plume of ash and steam 7,000 feet into the air. Quake followed quake in the next few weeks. Scientists had long expected this. Now they predicted a major eruption." Corps: Before the Eruption

"A magnitude 5+ earthquake at 8:32 a.m. set the blast in motion. Huge masses of rock began sliding down the mount's north flank, releasing gas pressure inside. Within seconds the whole north face exploded in a cloud of ash, rock fragments, and hot gases rushing northward at speeds up to 120 miles per hour. Once uncapped, the eruption continued vigorously until late afternoon. The top 1200 feet of the mountain rose in a billowing dark-gray plume of pulverized rock 11 miles high, and began drifting east.
Meanwhile, the avalanche of rock, mud and ice released by the earthquake roared down the mountain, turned westward and surged 17 miles down the North Fork Toutle river valley; one of the largest landslides in history. Another part of the slide pushed north across the valley, overtopped the ridge and flowed down South Coldwater canyon. The eastern part rammed into Spirit Lake, raising the lake level about 200 feet and blocking its outlet with debris hundreds of feet deep. Massive mudflows choked the Toutle and Cowlitz rivers and brought shipping to a halt on the Columbia River. The Corps, responsible for navigation and flood control, quickly became involved.
Corps crews found the worst flood danger on the Cowlitz along I-5, where the channel was nearly full of mud and debris. The Corps went to work raising levees and roads, removing debris and clearing blocked creeks between Castle Rock and Longview. At the same time, ships were stranded in port or going aground on mudflows that had come down the Cowlitz and filled the Columbia channel overnight from its previous 40-foot depth to a mere 14 feet. For nine miles up and downriver, nothing moved but mud and water. The Corps' three hoppers dredges and the Port of Portland's pipeline dredge soon arrived on the scene from other jobs. More pipeline dredges came on contract a few days later. When shipping was partially restored on the Columbia River, two of the huge dredges were hauled overland through Longview in the early morning hours to new work sites on the mud-choked Cowlitz. ..." Corps: The Crises and Response