Dust Bowl
Tatum Radtke
Background
The dust bowl covered 15,000 square miles. These miles had little rainfall, light soil, and high winds. The drought struck from 1934-1937. The soil during the time lacked the stronger root system of grass, so the winds easily picked up the loose topsoil and swirled it into dense dust clouds.
Dust Bowl Location
The Dust Bowl was in the driest region of the Plain: southeastern Colorado, southwest Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Breathing The "Dust"
People who inhaled the airborne prairie dust suffered coughing spasms, shortness of breath, asthma, bronchitis, and influenza. Dust pneumonia, called the "brown plague," killed hundreds and was particularly lethal for infants, children, and the elderly.
The Heart
The "heart" of the Dust Bowl was in Nebraska. The "heart" typically averaged 20 inches of rain per year. In 1934, only 14.5 inches fell, which caused corn yield crops to drop by 75%.
Unemployment
During the Dust Bowl, more than 300,000 people moved to California to start over. Many of these people were farmers who were forced to start over due to the damage to the land. These people who migrated found it was hard to find a job and were left unemployed. Approximately 6,500 people were killed during only one year of the Dust Bowl. These 6,500 people died from trying to hop on fright trains to get to other parts of the country to look for work.
Repeated Dust Storms
In 1932, there were 14 dust storms recorded on the Plains, (Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas). In 1933, there were 38 dust storms. By 1934, because of all the repeated dust storms, approximately 100 million acres of farmland no longer had enough topsoil to grow crops.
People during the Dust Bowl knew to brush the dust off their roofs; however, they did not realize the dust had gotten inside their houses. Many attics collapsed because because of the heavy build up. It is estimated that around two million people became homeless because of the Dust Bowl.