California Sandstorm Causes 2 Deaths and Many Injuries

Jenny Albano

Contributor

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A sandstorm on Tuesday, October 16 blinded dozens of drivers and caused many vehicles to get into accidents just north of Los Angeles. So far there have been two reported deaths and sixteen injuries, two of those were listed in critical condition.

The car accidents took place at 1:40 PM with winds up to 55mph and left tractor-trailers and cars all over the road and tossed onto the pavement and center divider. The names of the victims have not been released.

The weather service issued a dust storm warning for the area Tuesday afternoon, cautioning that blowing dust in the region could reduce visibility to near zero.

The Antelope Valley has been very dry this year and received less than two inches of rain. Because of this the dirt ans sand are not packed into the ground and are more easily moved by heavy winds.

One witness who drives through the area regularly said, "Everybody just came to an abrupt stop. There were people that were speeding and unfortunately I don't know if they made it through or not." He also stated that he had never seen anything like this sandstorm in all the time he has lived in the area.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.