SLC peer, alternate plan

by Dave Stephens
(SLC, UT, USA)

I don't plan to evacuate, but the main thing preventing it would be failure to leave before the ash arrives. Ash can't travel as fast as the shock wave, so there's a window of time for it.

Good call on the goggles, but they aren't scratch proof like some safety glasses, so I'm going with safety glasses and Gorilla tape.

The airborne ash should disperse within a month at most, the biggest problem is that when it dries it sets up like concrete.

I have sledgehammers and chisels in the house, plastic sheets and tarps for the grow boxes and compost pile, and I've prepared a room in the basement for our 2 rabbits, 4 ducks, 6 chickens, and beehive.

If you must drive in ash, you'll hafta clean the air filter of your car's engine every time it clogs. Best to have a stack of new K&N air filters for each car's engine.

You also need to attach an anchor to the peak of your home's roof, and you should run a plastic-sheathed stainless steel cable from there to where you intend to place the ladder. Rig up carabineers to secure both your safety harness and your ladder to this cable.

You can also rig it so you can walk the cable around your house causing the ash to spill off, but then you must make sure it doesn't land on you. Going up and shoveling gives you control of where it ends up, so you can keep it away from your doors.