Dust Storm Near Tucson, Arizona Causes Pileup On Interstate

PICACHO, Ariz. -- Authorities have closed a portion of Interstate 10 northwest of Tucson, Ariz., after a dust storm led to a multi-vehicle pileup.

Witnesses tell KVOA-TV in Tucson as many as 30 vehicles may be involved in the wreck near Picacho (pih-KAH'-cho).

There are reports of injuries, and several emergency crews are responding.

Authorities say visibility has been reduced to zero because of intense dust blowing in the area. The Arizona Department of Transportation reports the interstate is closed in both directions.

Comments

[tkoon]

01:50 AM on 10/06/2011

These dust storms are Bushes fault....there are....the roots of the bushes in the desert get pulled out of the ground with the high winds throwing dust in the air and then the roots drag along creating dust along the way! Let's hope no one believes this !!!

[balfy4]

12:09 PM on 10/05/2011

Do they have any warnings, or do they know when these storms are coming? They have been awful this year, my heart goes out to all who have been through this.

[tkoon]

02:00 AM on 10/06/2011

if you are watching tv and they are covering one on the news...you avoid that area....but if you are driving home.....and notice that it is a little dusty.....then a little more.....traffic is all around you going about 75 MPH and then suddenly...you can't see to the end of your hood....and you can no longer see the guy that was just behind you and you cannot see to pull off the road.....you see nothing....it is like looking into a big brown paper grocery bag....nothing.....and then you slow down slowly and pray that the fellow behind you is slowing down and that no one has stopped infront of you. Really, really a scary thing.....this wasn't a haboob...that is fairly well defined...it is a generalized dust storm....and they happen very quickly and anywhere. Let me tell you about Phoenix in Jan and Feb...really nice...we only had...what 37 days this year over 110 degrees....maybe 130 or 140 over 100 degrees.....sunny ..nice

[balfy4]

11:29 AM on 10/07/2011

Thank you for information, had to laugh at some of your remarks, but my sincere wish's go out to all who have been through these storms, I have always thought that when I retire it would be Tucson, I know weather is strange this year, but those storms just sound terrible, good luck to U all-bet the homes are a mess with dust-:-) Thanks

[wlewan60]

12:01 PM on 10/05/2011

I live in this area. When these dust storms occur it's just like a white-out in the snow. You can see the dust cloud miles away. The height of these storms are at times miles high. We have here what they call "dust devils" which are very small tornatoes, and with the desert here being a sandy like dirt it just picks up and blows around in circles. During the large dust storms zero visibiality just flashes unexpectably in front of you and can last from a second to almost a minute. Locals here know when to get off the roadway and drive even off pasr the sholder and on to the dirt and turn your lights off. Being that people will follow the lights in front it's important to turn them off as you are completely off of the pavement.

[jerry48]

10:58 AM on 10/05/2011

need to look at the weather and how to drive or not drive in a sand storm its all over the news I was there last week about 400 am and it looked pretty bad but drivable type in how to drive or what to do in case of a sand storm may have avoided this

[Louie Rey]

10:55 AM on 10/05/2011

My wife and I have been to the Phoenix - Scottsdale area quite a number of times. The first time was in 1996. The surprizing thing is that these dust storms are a recurring thing in that area of the country yet we never knew about them until earlier this year which was the last time we were there. Just two weeks before we left to go on vacation there we saw video of this humongous dust cloud rolling over that area on the news and we were flipping out. It had to be a couple of hundred feet high and completely blocked any and all visability. We were told once we got there that it took almost a full week to recover from all of the effects of that storm.

[truthbs]

10:13 AM on 10/05/2011

Dust caused it?? I guess none of the cars had a driver or no BRAKES!!

[raal246]

09:58 AM on 10/05/2011

"BLAME others syndrome at work! IT was a duststorm NOT THE IDIOT DRIVERS who created the mess! Time to put responsibility were it belongs - the people!

[howardfrankfort]

09:48 AM on 10/05/2011

It is clearly the lack of a dust tax.

[westronandnan]

09:04 AM on 10/05/2011

I'm surprised "the interstate is closed in both directions." I thought the dust storm would probably be confined to only one direction of the interstate.

[Steve Reaves]

08:49 AM on 10/05/2011

Drivers were the cause of the accident. Here in AZ, tailgating is a sport. If the cops would just enforce the 1 car-length per 10 mph following law, we wouldn't have tragedies like this.

[fhmjam]

08:00 AM on 10/05/2011

If we could tax the rich more, not only would it eliminate these types of dust storm, but it would also bring the dinasaurs back, Utah would never be at the bottom of an ocean again, meteorites would never crash into our world, Illinois would never be under a glacier and volcanoes would never erupt again. Why is it that you people just can't see the wisdom of being a worried chicken little? The sky really IS falling!! Worship Al Gore and let's turn this thing around now.....lol

[Robert J Bartley]

06:25 AM on 10/05/2011

What global warming? Dang tree huggers trying ta blame mypickemup truck.

[fedul7]

12:16 AM on 10/05/2011

I lived in Mesa,Az. & worked in Scottsdale, Az & twice while I lived there, a gigantic dust storm, like ahuge blanket unrolling moved over the city. I'm talking huge, couldn't see the top or either end w/ winds so hard carts in parking lots were flying through the air at rocket speed, hitting people w/ the force of a car. The dust was so thick that if you can't get out of it you just cover up the best that you can because you can't breathe & you can't open your eyes to see where you are going. It just over powers you & causes several accidents.I have been all over the u.s. many times, been in all of the states , but Az has the record for violent dust storms.

[Sunwyn Ravenwood]

11:49 PM on 10/04/2011

Hey, this is deja vu all over again! We have another Great Depression caused by bad banking practices, we have another Liberal Democrat trying to clean up the mess left by an incompetent Republican President, now we're getting another dust bowl! Awesome!

[KarlaElisa]

01:58 AM on 10/05/2011

Wicked humorous observations there SR! And they're funny cuz they're true...

[1differentdrummer]

05:12 AM on 10/05/2011

Agreed.

[rigel1048]

11:09 PM on 10/04/2011

It's Bush's fault.

[Apelika]

11:43 PM on 10/04/2011

You know that is such an old piece fo crap. Why don't you find someothing esle to post when you have nothing to say that is of worth??? HMMM how aboutposting your parents names?

[planetjeffy]

11:50 PM on 10/04/2011

Illegal immigrants must have started it