The day after Redoubt volcano spewed ash across Anchorage and much of Southcentral Alaska, the city began to clean up the soggy gray mess. Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport reopened Sunday afternoon, though many flights were still canceled or delayed. Hundreds of passengers anticipate being stranded for days in hubs like Seattle and Minneapolis.

Drivers lined up at car washes to blast off the scratchy gunk. Worried pet owners flooded the phones at an emergency vet clinic. And everyone watched for any signs of another explosion from Redoubt.

NOT MUCH HEALTH WORRY

Despite the coating of ash on roads, vehicles and rooftops, Anchorage's air quality was considered good on Sunday, said Steve Morris, air quality program manager for the municipality. Wet melting snow may be holding ash down.

The ash is mainly fine bits of abrasive volcanic glass that can damage lungs, vehicles or electronics equipment. But the ash fall on Anchorage, Nikiski and elsewhere in Southcentral Alaska on Saturday was considered minor.

Anchorage schools expect to be open as usual today. People Mover buses are running a regular schedule.

Some people wore dust masks Sunday even for a quick walk from the car to the supermarket. For most people, that's not necessary, Morris said. In fact, he said runners, walkers, skiers and cyclists can safely exercise outdoors, though they may want to stay away from major roadways where cars are kicking up volcanic dust.

But residents should wear masks and maybe eye goggles when they start to clean up their own driveways, walkways and cars because that stirs up the dust, Morris said. If you don't have a dust mask, wear a damp bandana.

Another tip from Morris: Don't use a leaf blower for cleaning up the ash.

"It just moves it from the ground into the air," he said. Then it floats back down.

People still were worried about pets and began calling Pet Emergency Treatment soon after the ash began to coat Anchorage, said veterinarian Melissa Diederich.

"All four lines were ringing consistently for an hour or so," she said.

She said pets should be kept indoors as much as possible because they might roll in or swallow the ash. If pets do walk through the ash, she advised to brush it off their paws so they don't track it indoors.

DISRUPTION FROM THE ERUPTION

The volcano began erupting March 22, but the puff cloud of ash that rained on Anchorage Saturday was the first to reach Alaska's biggest city.

By Sunday, Redoubt had quieted, with no evidence of new explosions. It's still likely to blow again. Redoubt erupted for four months back in 1989-90.

No ash advisories were in effect as of 9 p.m. Sunday.

Since the eruption began, hundreds of flights have been canceled at the Anchorage airport. Alaska Airlines alone has canceled about 230 flights, including 45 on Sunday alone, said Paul McElroy, an airline spokesman.

The airport closed around 6:15 p.m. Saturday as the ash fell.

Airport officials didn't immediately have a total of canceled flights for all airlines over the eight days, but said about 200 were canceled Saturday and Sunday.

One runway reopened around 2 p.m. Sunday and a second one reopened a little after 5 p.m. Air traffic remained light, considering that the airport averages 436 takeoffs and landings on a typical day.

Alaska Airlines resumed flights out of Anchorage around 4 p.m. Sunday. Its crews were monitoring the ground to make sure the activity didn't stir up more dust, McElroy said.

Anchorage resident Bryce Coryell said he's stranded in Seattle, probably until Wednesday. The computer consultant was flying home Saturday evening from a vacation in Los Angeles when he discovered all flights into Anchorage were cancelled. He knew the volcano might complicate the trip.

"I figured I might get delayed on either side of it, and I figured I would deal with that," Coryell, 25, said. "I didn't think I'd get caught in the middle of it, without my bag."

Passengers stranded in Seattle on Sunday were told they could only get their checked bag at their "final destination," he said.

McElroy said that initially the airline expected flights to resume Sunday morning and didn't want to waste time rescreening the bags through security. Because people are being delayed for much longer, stranded passengers can collect their checked bags at baggage claim, he said.

Colin Clarke just moved to Anchorage with his family a few months ago as an executive with a public relations firm. He was supposed to head to Fargo, N.D., last Thursday to close the upcoming sale on their home there. But he hasn't been able to fly out of Anchorage. Now Fargo is flooding, and he's trapped in Alaska by an erupting volcano.

"Redoubt's antics have added a whole new level of concern to an already difficult situation. And I have NO IDEA when I will finally get out of Anchorage. I'm just trying to take things ... one natural disaster at a time," Clarke wrote in an e-mail.

Airport crews worked all night to clear away the ash and reopen the airport, said Christine Klein, deputy commissioner for the state Department of Transportation.

Crews first dumped snow onto the runway, creating a mix of snow and ash that Klein said looks a bit like brownie batter. That gave the ash something to stick to. Then crews cleared the mix away with plows, brooms and blowers, and dumped it into snow storage areas where the airport needs fill, Klein said.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Experts at the Alaska Volcano Observatory are monitoring seismic activity and looking for evidence of plumes on radar but can't predict just when Redoubt will blow again.

The scientists also are starting to study ash from the eruption and will do more of that in coming months, said volcanologist Kate Bull.

"A lot of us are just glued to radar right now," said geophysicist Dave Schneider. The Volcano Observatory has a new radar system that became operational one day before Redoubt's eruption began, he said. "We had about 24 hours to learn how to use it."

On Sunday, they spotted what appears to be a plume of steam, likely with some ash, on the radar but weren't too excited about it.

"It doesn't go very high and it doesn't go very far," Schneider said.

Find Lisa Demer online at adn.com/contact/ldemer or call 257-4390.

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