Power outages and flight cancellations: Dust storm hits major city in the USA

In the otherwise mostly dry south-west of the USA, powerful thunderstorms are currently developing frequently. They can trigger huge dust storms, known as haboobs.

In the deserts of Arizona, a huge wall of dust hit the city of Phoenix in recent days.

As a result, more than 15,000 people were left without electricity. Visibility dropped to just a few metres, forcing motorists to stop. Flight operations also had to be temporarily suspended.

The Burning Man art festival in the desert in the US state of Nevada had to be temporarily interrupted due to a dust storm. Gusts of more than 43 mph destroyed art installations and tore down the tents of numerous visitors.