MOSES LAKE -
Blowing dust from high winds created whiteout conditions on several roads including Interstate 90 Sunday in Adams and Grant Counties.
The Washington State Department of Transportation even had to close I-90 between Moses Lake and Ritzville because of the poor visibility. The freeway was closed around 1:30 a.m. between milepost 179 and milepost 220 before reopening it Sunday night just after 8 p.m.
Emergency Management and Sheriff Offices of Adams and Grant Counties warned people to stay off the roadways and stay put and wait out the storm. There were several multi-vehicle accidents with injuries on local streets.
"The amount of cars trying to travel through it and colliding with other cards reached its peak around noon to about 2 o'clock this afternoon," said Kyle Foreman, public information officer for the Grant County Department of Emergency Management.
One accident, involving two semis and three passenger vehicles happened around 2 a.m. between Ritzville and Moses Lake, injuring eight people. Around midday Sunday, Washington State Patrol Sgt. Mike Rupert told the Associated Press that the road was "impassable" and that "visibility in the worst of the dust storm was about five feet and when it lets up, visibility is still only about 20 feet."
"It was such whiteout conditions they (WSP and Sheriff's Deputies) needed an ambulance," said Foreman, "and they weren't exactly sure where they were, they were just saying they were somewhere on this road between here and here."
University of Washington student Spenser Smith posted updated and video to his twitter account after he got stuck in the storm driving home.
"I could barely see, I was going pretty slow and there was no visibility," said Smith, "We were going about 10 mph and then you see a car that's about 5 feet in front of you."
Other drivers said, "You couldn't see where you were going and you weren't sure if anybody was coming out at you or something was coming out to get you."
Foreman said it could take a while until they know how many cars actually got into accidents, but thankfully, no fatalities have been reported.
"We're just now able to get into the dust storm to see how many cars are out there," said Foreman, "so we're going to be unraveling this for the next few days to see how many cars were impacted by this."
The Washington State Department of Transportation even had to close I-90 between Moses Lake and Ritzville because of the poor visibility. The freeway was closed around 1:30 a.m. between milepost 179 and milepost 220 before reopening it Sunday night just after 8 p.m.
Emergency Management and Sheriff Offices of Adams and Grant Counties warned people to stay off the roadways and stay put and wait out the storm. There were several multi-vehicle accidents with injuries on local streets.
"The amount of cars trying to travel through it and colliding with other cards reached its peak around noon to about 2 o'clock this afternoon," said Kyle Foreman, public information officer for the Grant County Department of Emergency Management.
One accident, involving two semis and three passenger vehicles happened around 2 a.m. between Ritzville and Moses Lake, injuring eight people. Around midday Sunday, Washington State Patrol Sgt. Mike Rupert told the Associated Press that the road was "impassable" and that "visibility in the worst of the dust storm was about five feet and when it lets up, visibility is still only about 20 feet."
"It was such whiteout conditions they (WSP and Sheriff's Deputies) needed an ambulance," said Foreman, "and they weren't exactly sure where they were, they were just saying they were somewhere on this road between here and here."
University of Washington student Spenser Smith posted updated and video to his twitter account after he got stuck in the storm driving home.
"I could barely see, I was going pretty slow and there was no visibility," said Smith, "We were going about 10 mph and then you see a car that's about 5 feet in front of you."
Other drivers said, "You couldn't see where you were going and you weren't sure if anybody was coming out at you or something was coming out to get you."
Foreman said it could take a while until they know how many cars actually got into accidents, but thankfully, no fatalities have been reported.
"We're just now able to get into the dust storm to see how many cars are out there," said Foreman, "so we're going to be unraveling this for the next few days to see how many cars were impacted by this."
