Impact of conservation practices on airborne dust in the southern High Plains of Texas

Excerpt

Many residents of the Southern Plains remember the severe dust storms of the 1930s. In addition to the serious environmental and social problems associated with the dust storms, economic costs were high. Cleaning up houses, farm lots, and city stores after the 1935 blow season was expensive. Carpets, draperies, and tapestries are reported to have been so dust-laden that their patterns were indiscernible. Painted surfaces were sandblasted bare. Automobile and tractor engines operated in dust storms without oil-bath air cleaners were ruined by grit. Amarillo merchants estimated from 3 to 15 percent damage to their merchandise and additional loss of shoppers during storms. Property damage (in 1935 dollars) reported after the March 1935 blow were as follows: Tucumcari, New Mexico ($288,000); Liberal, Kansas ($150,000); Randall County, Texas ($10,000); and Lamar, Colorado ($3,800) (9). For these reports alone, the total estimated cost to property damage from the dust storm was $451,800 in 1935 dollars, and $3,669,520 in 1991 dollars. Dust related respiratory problems were also common.

It is reported that in Meade County, Kansas, during April 1935 (the worst month in terms of …