http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/07/lightning-storm-generated-by-chilean-volcano-images/ Look at these pics! I don't know what was worse to clean up after - the ash or the piles of crap people left in their shorts as they tried to get away....
That first photo looks like Gabriel blew his trumpet and all hell is about to break loose. Scary stuff!
My son was at the former Clark AB when Pinatubo blew. I guarantee the messy drawers were cleaned up WELL before the ash removal even started. That was a world class bug out.
Ghrit, that one did two things for photogs all over the Earth - made for wonderful colorful sunsets, with the junk in the air playing with low-angle sunlight! And... it played unholy heck with the daytime sky - we had to use filters to get our nice 'blue sky' back! Pinatubo greyed it out badly. Not good for the astronomers either. That one volcano spewed more crap into the air in one day than all mankind through the centuries. Man is a pimple on the Earth's behind - we have NOTHING on what Mother Nature can dish out!