ANTELOPE VALLEY HIT BY POWERFUL SANDSTORM.Byline: Bhavna Mistry Daily News Staff Writer Winds gusting up to 86 mph knocked down trees and power poles, damaged roofs and caused a blinding sandstorm sandstorm, strong dry wind blowing over the desert that raises and carries along clouds of sand or dust often so dense as to obscure the sun and reduce visibility almost to zero; also known as a duststorm. that led to two crashes and wrecked nine vehicles Thursday in the Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley . Five people were sent to the hospital after two crashes minutes apart at 50th Street East and Avenue K. Authorities shut down roads for about three hours in a 12-square-mile area around the crash site as wind-whipped dust dropped visibility to zero. ``This is just incredible,'' said motorist Phyllis Shadle, 69, of North Edwards, who spent 45 minutes halted by the blowing sand. She braked to a stop before encountering the crash wreckage on 50th Street East. ``I've seen sandstorms before, but none that were this severe or that lasted this long.'' Winds were measured at up to 86 mph at Mojave Airport, 50 mph at Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. , 54 mph at Fox Field in Lancaster and 52 mph at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale. The high winds prompted Edwards officials to scrub numerous test and training flights, and they diverted a B-1B bomber and KC-135 tanker to Plant 42. Of the five people brought to the hospital after the 10:25 a.m. collisions at Avenue K and 50th Street East, four were treated and sent home. One individual was admitted for treatment of a fractured hip, hospital officials said. The first crash started when a tractor-trailer, northbound on 50th Street East, was enveloped en·vel·op tr.v. en·vel·oped, en·vel·op·ing, en·vel·ops 1. To enclose or encase completely with or as if with a covering: "Accompanying the darkness, a stillness envelops the city" in dust blowing off a plowed farm field and slowed down. A Toyota Celica For the high-performance versions of the Celica, see . The Toyota Celica name has been applied to a series of popular pony cars made by the Japanese company Toyota. The name is ultimately derived from the Latin word coelica crashed into the rear of the tractor-trailer, authorities said, and then was itself hit by a utility truck. A Toyota Tercel The Tercel was Toyota's entry-level vehicle in North America during the 1980s and 1990s. The Tercel was slotted between the Corolla and the Starlet, and was meant to offer basic affordable transportation while introducing young buyers to the Toyota brand. stopped in time, but was hit in the rear by a pickup truck and knocked into the utility truck, authorities said. ``I just couldn't see,'' said the pickup's driver, Rose Anne Craig Anne Craig (born in the 1970s in Louisville, Kentucky) is a reporter for WNYW-TV. On Good Day New York, she goes around town during her Anne About Town segment. She replaced Penny Crone and her morning block in 2006. , 37. ``I don't even remember the person behind me hitting me.'' Craig's truck was hit by a Nissan Pathfinder For the model marketed as Nissan Terrano II in Europe, see . The Nissan Pathfinder and Terrano were originally compact SUVs and they are now mid-size SUVs. , which was then hit by an Oldsmobile Cutlass. About 150 feet north, a pickup truck traveling east along Avenue K hit a Ford Mustang. When paramedics and sheriff's deputies arrived, they used as a makeshift hospital an Eastside Union School bus which had stopped when visibility became poor. Paramedics loaded injured patients onto the empty bus to get them away from the wreckage, wind and dust. ``I've been here for eight years and never seen anything like this,'' said bus driver Ramona King, 52, of Lancaster, who was on her way to pick up her first student. ``I didn't see (the wreckage) until I was right on top of it.'' |
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