Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Dust storms

It’s been several days since I have even checked my blog and I miss reading through the regular blogs that I usually do look into on a daily basis. I know that I do keep telling myself that I should blog regularly, write on a regular basis and so on. It’s just that whenever I get this great mood to work and when I get ideas, I am nowhere near my computer. :(

Anyway, here is another post and it’s nothing interesting. This is something about the stupid dust and dust storms that are frequent in Kuwait, especially during summer.



Usually Kuwait does not have dust storms during winter, but this winter we had dust storms because it did not rain much. So because of the lack of rains, it’s predicted that Kuwait will have the worst case of dust storms this summer and it will be a regular kind of affair.

Ohh do not think that it’s nothing or ask questions like – ya its dust, what’s the big deal etc. These things are definitely a big deal here coz it disrupts life so much. Half the country ends up at the hospital with allergies and breathing problems, flights get re-routed, stranded, ports close down till the weather clears, more accidents on the road because of the zero visibility status, most houses and offices get filled with dust due to which half the time will be spent trying to clean up the mess, the itchy feeling it causes and what not!!!

Believe me it’s a royal pain in the wrong place. :(

Last Friday I went to a lot of trouble to clean up the whole house and by the end of the day I couldn’t walk a step coz of the over strain I had put myself through. And after that I was feeling so light and happy coz I felt that the house is so clean and all, but ya the nature was definitely plotting against me. Yesterday Kuwait had another bl**** dust storm, but I do have to say that because it decided to rain by afternoon, the dust settled down fast and it definitely became cold and chilly again. If it hadn’t rained/drizzled the damn dust would have been there for 2 or three days.

Ohh boy! Just thinking about going through this as a regular procedure through the summer is enough to put me into a deep state of depression. I hate the itchy feeling that I will have and all we can do is taste and smell dust the whole time and that doesn’t help you to get any sleep too as all we can do is smell dust in our sleep too.

Below I have given a copy of the news related to the dust storm and I have put in photos that I got from the internet and also from the Al Watan Daily newspaper.

KUWAIT: Mar 10, 2009 (AFP) - A blinding dust storm hit Kuwait on Tuesday, halting oil exports and forcing the closure of the Gulf emirate's three ports besides disrupting air traffic, officials said. Winds blowing at a speed of up to 60 kilometres (38 miles) an hour reduced visibility to less than 300 metres (yards) at Kuwait airport and less than 150 meters at ports. "We have halted oil exports until weather conditions improve," Kuwait National Petroleum Co (KNPC).

Issam al-Zamel, head of operations at the civil aviation authority, told the KUNA (Kuwait news agency) that incoming planes were facing difficulty landing. Scheduled flights out of Kuwait were still taking off by early afternoon. The meteorological department was forecasting the dust storm would continue until Wednesday. Kuwait has had virtually no rain for the third winter in a row, making desert sand loose and easily carried by strong north-westerly winds. Dust storms are rare in winter but common in summer when the temperature hits 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit).


Well i guess all of you saw the photos! Thahats how its during a dust storm and sometimes there is the red dust storm and sometimes that whitish one...Both are a pain anyway, and its in that climate that everyone has to get to work and get on with their lives!!!

10 comments:

Renu said...

Oh I didnt know anything about dust storms,that too wind at the speed of 60km/hr. can imagin how itchy it must feel.
Thanks for writing about it !

--xh-- said...

man - it does not look pretty at all :| i know, life is tough out there...

Jane said...

Yes...sand in the wrong places can be torture :O) ...hope the Winds of Time blow it all away...

Kelvy said...

@REnu
ohh ya, dust storms are not only itchy, its such a disruption to life as most people end up in hospital with all sorts of probs and its a regular thing in summer...

Kelvy said...

@REnu
ohh ya, dust storms are not only itchy, its such a disruption to life as most people end up in hospital with all sorts of probs and its a regular thing in summer...

Kelvy said...

@xh
hehe ya its not ....life is certainly tough with the peak summer and heat and all...and to top it the dust and stuff

Kelvy said...

@jane
ohh dear jane, i dont think that will happen in this desert land... i just hate the dirty feeling, i hate seeing everything from, bed to sofa to everything having a dusty feel and so on

Reflections said...

Yeah we get them here also....but I doubt its as bad as u've described. I guess we get them on a lower scale but even then they sure disrupt the traffic.

And even if the windows are closed they'll somehow get inside the house & leave a fine sheen of dust everywhere....especially visible on the white bathtub:-P

Kelvy said...

@Reflections:
Ya Duabi doesnt have it as bad as Kuwait...
Uhh they get in verywhere...i have taped most of the windows to wat not but it still gets in like mad
:(

Anonymous said...

ouchh!! that looks horrendous.

we actually experienced something of this sort when we were in egypt last year. we visited pyramids in a duststorm in fact. it added to the exoticness of the pyramids for us in fact ... but living with this ... i dunno how i'd cope!! thanks for sharing pics. :)