“Cows crashed on the roadside”: a Rostov resident – about the situation on the roads due to a dust storm 18:51

Rostov-on-Don resident Veronica told socialbites.ca that in the Rostov region, visibility was only a few meters in some areas due to a dust storm. According to him, drivers may therefore not have time to notice animals crossing the road.

“A few hours ago we were driving along the highway from the village of Remontnoye towards Zimovniki; There were even downed cows along the road. Visibility is somewhere five meters. Of course, traveling is not easy. It seems to me that a storm like this in September is not new,” said Veronica.

Another resident of the city, Maria, told socialbites.ca that it was impossible to stay outside for a long time and keep the windows open due to the dust storm.

“All the windows had to be closed as dust flew into the apartment and this was also visible through the light tiles on the floor. People with allergic diseases experience the storm especially severely; They have difficulty breathing. “We don’t need to go out, but we have to wait inside for the bad weather to pass,” the girl explained.

Local residents say the current dust storm is much weaker than the one that hit the area a few years ago.

“I went out to feed the dog. The air was somehow heavy, like in a mountain. I remember in 2021 there was complete chaos in the village “Stanitsa Kirovskaya”. Everything was yellow and the phone was covered with a two-centimeter layer of dust in seconds,” said resident Vladislav. In an interview with socialbites.ca.

On September 29, dust storms covered several regions of Russia at once: the Stavropol Territory, the Republic of Kalmykia, the Rostov and Volgograd regions.

Due to the sand, visibility on the roads was zero and the sky was painted red. Due to bad weather conditions, traffic was limited on the Elista-Arzgir-Mineralnye Vody highway. High winds also make the situation worse. The State Traffic Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia asks drivers to comply with the speed limit.

Dangerous weather events in at least six regions of Russia were previously predicted by Roman Vilfand, scientific director of the Hydrometeorological Center of the Russian Federation. According to the meteorologist, the wind speed will increase up to 25 meters per second and rain is expected in the Stavropol Region in the coming days. Dust storms will occur in Kalmykia. The expert explained that the reason for their emergence will be drought and strong winds with wind speeds of up to 25 meters per second.

Previous researchers I learnedIt is stated that the dry Aral Sea has become the main source of dust storms in Central Asia.