A dust storm caused a wreck south of Lafayette today. It made me think of a Grapes of Wrath era Dust Bowl.
Police believe the fine, sand-like dirt from a farming plot along the highway turned into a flash dust storm when a strong wind blew through.
The dust reduced visibility to zero and was likely the cause if the crash, Frantz said.
Officers investigating the crash were repeatedly blinded as thick gusts passed through the site.
“It was a like a bomb went off,” said Hank Laycock, a semi-truck driver who witnessed the crash. “The dust was very high, like a wall, when it came across the highway.”
Laycock was driving behind the six vehicles when he saw a brown-out, like a snow storm, begin to move toward the roadway.
. . .
Bob Peabody, a farmer who lives nearby, said the field where the storm originated from was plowed last fall. Since then the top soil has become like sand due to natural elements. Peabody doesn’t own the field in question.
Ten people were injured.
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