TURPAN City, Xinjiang, China (CCTV) — Sandstorms hit Hami City and Turpan Depression in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Thursday.
Strong wind accompanied with sands reduced visibility in Hami to less than 200 meters in the rural areas and even less than 100 meters in some parts of the urban area.
“The visibility is less than 20 meters. We have to turn on the fog lights and flashing lights to ensure safety,” said Ma Yunlong, a local resident.
Classes in middle and primary schools were suspended on Thursday afternoon.
Train services were stopped from 12:00 and did not resume until 19:00.
Severe sand and dust storm also hit the Turpan Depression, located in Turpan City.
A video footage shot by a traffic policeman at around 12:00 Thursday showed that gravels and sand were involved in the strong wind, forming a sand wall of nearly 100 meters high, reducing the visibility to less than 20 meters. The instant wind speed exceeded 30 meters per second, according to local observatory.
Windowpanes of most vehicles were broken by the gravels.
Traffic police set up checkpoints to persuade passing drivers of large vehicles and buses not to go forward, and banned all vehicles from entering the strong wind area.
