What were the destructive effects of Mt. Pinatubo eruption?

The destructive effects of the Mt. Pinatubos eruption were enormous and far-reaching.  Tons of volcanic ash heaped immeasurable harm to houses, rice paddies, fields, and the two military bases in the Philippines.  The ash, when combined with rain, produced mud flows that buried houses and cars.  Fields and rice paddies that were covered by igneous rock formations when the volcano erupted are still being recovered to this day.

Any time a volcano actively erupts, there are several concerns that must be considered by scientists and emergency responders to preserve lives and property.  Mt. Pinatubos eruption was forecast in 1991, so it gave geologists time to warn the people, who made their homes in and around the volcano, to evacuate.  Over 5,000 lives were saved by scientists' ability to predict the eruption along with the preservation of a quarter-billion dollars in property.  Air traffic was diverted around the Philippines so as to avert air crash disasters.  The second largest modern day volcanic eruption had its day of destruction yet was not as catastrophically destructive as it might have been.