The strong winds that accompanied the drought of the 1930s blew away 480 tons of topsoil per acre, removing an average of five inches of topsoil from more than 10 million acres. The dust and sand storms degraded soil productivity, harmed human health, and damaged air quality.
People wore gauze masks and put wet sheets over their windows, but buckets of dust still managed to get inside their homes. Short on oxygen, people could barely breathe. Outside, the dust piled up like snow, burying cars and homes.
How many people died from the worst dust storms in history?
It’s unclear exactly how many people may have died from the condition. Estimates range from hundreds to several thousand people. On May 11, 1934, a massive dust storm two miles high traveled 2,000 miles to the East Coast, blotting out monuments such as the Statue of Liberty and the U. The worst dust storm occurred on April 14, 1935.
What is so dangerous about dust storms?
Dust storms — and their lingering effects — can be hazardous for several reasons: A dust storm’s initial wall of dust and debris can arrive suddenly and can catch people by surprise. Dust storms can make it difficult to see when you’re driving a car and can lead to car accidents. Dust in the air can cause serious problems for airplanes.
A tornado is simply a violently rotating column of air between the bottom of a cumuliform cloud and ground. It is about as wide as 800-1000 m and lasts upto an hour. A forewarning can be made 10-15 minutes before the phenomemon actually begins. The below image exemplifies it perfectly… The tornado down the road as a couple looks on….
, and don’t drive. If you are driving, pull over before it gets bad and stay put. Protect your eyes, nose, and mouth. Wear a mask, glass, and/or goggles to keep yourself safe. Have an emergency source of water. It is about to get very dry, and you’re going to need some hydration. Keep a blanket with you in your car. Visibility is low, and the danger is high.
How did the Dust Bowl affect the Great Plains?
The Dust Bowl, also known as “the Dirty Thirties,” started in 1930 and lasted for about a decade, but its long-term economic impacts on the region lingered much longer. Severe drought hit the Midwest and Southern Great Plains in 1930. Massive dust storms began in 1931.
One inquiry we ran across in our research was “How many acres of land was lost in the Dust Bowl?”.
By 1934, an estimated 35 million acres of formerly cultivated land had been rendered useless for farming, while another 125 million acres—an area roughly three-quarters the size of Texas—was rapidly losing its topsoil. Regular rainfall returned to the region by the end of 1939, bringing the Dust Bowl years to a close.