Sacramento, November 14 (IANS). A dust storm engulfed the Central Valley of California in America. Vehicular traffic came to a standstill on the highway. Due to which a jam like situation was created on the roads. Besides, people also had to face problems due to power cut in the area.
This type of weather phenomenon is called Haboob in the local language. Due to this storm, visibility became almost zero near Chowchilla, 400 kilometers north of Los Angeles.
Quoting the California Highway Patrol, Xinhua news agency said that around 1 pm local time, visibility became so low due to the storm that about 20 vehicles, including a semi-truck, collided with each other on Highway 152, injuring several people. Suffered minor injuries and was admitted to hospital.
The dust storm also downed power lines in Fresno County. Due to which more than 12,000 people had to face problems. In one incident a tree broke in half and fell onto the carport of an apartment complex, narrowly missing children playing nearby.
“There was a very loud noise, very loud and scary. The children were very scared,” Carla Sanchez, a local resident, told ABC30.
Sanchez continued, “My kids came running, screaming, and when I went outside, I saw the tree fall and everything behind me and all the cars were crushed.”
“It was actually a wall of dust. We would say that’s a little unusual because it doesn’t happen very often,” said Antoinette Serrato, a forecaster at the Hanford office of the U.S. National Weather Service.
–IANS
PSM/MK
