Dust storms don't just happen in the middle of the desert. They happen in any dry area where loose dirt can easily be picked up. The sand blown into the air by the wind usually falls back down to the ground after a few hours. Smaller bits of particles (微粒) stay in the air for a week or longer and can be blown thousands of miles away. Dust from the Sahara is always blown across the Atlantic and keeps travelling as far as Caribbean.
The scary thing about sandstorm is that they can spread over hundreds of miles and rise over 10, 000 feet (3050 meters). They also have wind speeds of at least 25 miles per hour (40km). Not strong enough to blow the feathers off a chicken but still something worth avoiding.
Don't be surprised if you suddenly see a dust storm heading your way. Dust storms usually arrive without warning and move in the form of a big wall of dust. The dust makes driving impossible. Often they only last for a few minutes but storms usually leave serious car accidents behind. If you are in a car during a dust storm, remind the driver to pull over and turn off the headlights.
In mild (轻微的) dust storms, it's still impossible to walk around although you wouldn't want to. You can't see anything because of the dust particles flying around. It's not just the dust you want to avoid. The wind carrying the dust will leave things as if they were just hit by a tornado. The best thing to do is find a safe place in a building.
