De Amerikaanse stad Phoenix in de staat Arizona kreeg vannacht een 80 km brede 'muur van zand' te verduren. het zand werd vanuit de nabijgelegen woestijn vanuit het zuiden naar de stad geblazen.
Een dergelijke zandstorm wordt ook wel een Haboob genoemd.
Zo'n 8.000 Amerikanen zitten tijdelijk zonder stroom. Alle vluchten rondom het gebied zijn geannuleerd.
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zie ook: Stof- en Zandstormen
onweer-online
Wel bizar zeg
Amerikanen zijn wel wat gewend.quote:Op woensdag 6 juli 2011 09:48 schreef Saekerhett het volgende:
Die gast scheurt nog wel aardig hard in zo'n zandstorm, vind ik.
Als ik het allemaal zo zie doet het mij denken aan een of andere Michael Bay film.quote:
Maar goed, wie nu al die 'rampen' in de VS ziet moet zich afvragen of Amerika als land nog wel zo zaligmakend is.
quote:Duststorm engulfs Phoenix - third time since early july
PHOENIX (AP) – A giant wall of dust rolled through the Phoenix area on Thursday for the third time since early July — turning the sky brown, creating dangerous driving conditions and delaying some airline flights.
The dust storm, also known as a haboob in Arabic and around Arizona, swept through Pinal County and headed northeast, reaching Phoenix at about 6 p.m.
Some incoming and departing flights at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport were delayed about 40 minutes because of the storm, according to airport spokeswoman Julie Rodriguez. She said take-offs and landings resumed at Sky Harbor about 6:50 p.m.
National Weather Service meteorologists said a powerful thunderstorm packing winds of up to 60 mph hit Pinal County and pushed the dust storm toward Arizona's most populous county. There were several reports of downed poles.
Salt River Project officials said that at the peak of the storm 3,500 of its customers were without electricity, mostly in the Queen Creek area southeast of Phoenix, but power had been restored to nearly everyone by 11 p.m.
Power lines landed on top of several cars and one elementary school bus in Pinal County, but county spokesman Elias Johnson said there were no reported injuries and everyone got out safely including the four students on the bus.
It was the third major dust storm to hit the Phoenix metro area since last month. A haboob on July 5 brought a mile-high wall of dust that halted airline flights, knocked out power for 10,000 people and covered everything in its path with a thick sheet of dust. Another dust storm hit July 18 reaching heights of 3,000 to 4,000 feet, delaying flights and cutting off power for more than 2,000 people in the Phoenix metro area.
Weather officials say haboobs happen only in Arizona, the Sahara desert and parts of the Middle East because of dry conditions and large amounts of sand.
Pollution levels skyrocket during dust storms and create even more breathing problems for people with asthma and other similar conditions.
