A massive sandstorm inundated a whole Chinese city.
As the city of Hami, in the country’s northwest, was struck, enormous, menacing dust clouds built a 300-foot-high wall of sand.
Locals in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region captured footage of the apocalyptic-looking storm as it suddenly swept in.
According to Sky News, footage showed the dust storm rising above the city’s tallest structures.
Then it totally obscured everything, turning the foggy sky orange.
A yellow weather warning had been issued for the area, which is the second lowest alert on the four-tier scale and means there is a ‘moderate’ risk of danger.
After the terrifying plumes arrived in the city, the storm reportedly lasted for around an hour-and-a-half before it eventually dissipated.
Other videos filmed by local residents also showed high speed winds amid the height of the blizzard.
Hami lies just to the west of the Gobi Desert which spans 500,000 square miles across northern China and Mongolia.
Sandstorms, also known as haboobs, are intense storms that are carried on the wind in desert regions of the world, according to EarthSky.
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), they are usually ‘caused by thunderstorms – or strong pressure gradients associated with cyclones – which increase wind speed over a wide area’.
The weather experts say: ‘These strong winds lift large amounts of sand and dust from bare, dry soils into the atmosphere, transporting them hundreds to thousands of kilometres away.’
Haboobs can pose a serious risk to human health, both externally and internally.
Dust and sand particles can cause skin and eye irritations, such as conjunctivitis, according to the WMO, while finer particles can cause problems for the respiratory system and organs.
People with underlying health issues or suffering from asthma can be severely affected by a sandstorm, with residents always urged to stay inside if one strikes.
It also causes a danger to drivers and the National Weather Service says: ‘A dust storm usually arrives suddenly in the form of an advancing wall of dust and debris which may be miles long and several thousand feet high.
‘They strike with little warning, making driving conditions hazardous. Blinding, choking dust can quickly reduce visibility, causing accidents that may involve chain collisions, creating massive pileups.’
In 2021, a freak sandstorm caused a 22-car wreckage which claimed the lives of eight people, including children, in Utah, USA.
Last year, one person was killed and dozens were injured when a 50mph sandstorm caused a stage to collapse at a festival near Valencia in Spain.