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N0KFQ > TODAY 14.04.14 16:02l 46 Lines 2000 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 17719_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Apr 14
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Sent: 140414/1500Z 17719@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.60
Apr 14, 1935:
A major Dust Bowl storm strikes
In what came to be known as "Black Sunday," one of the most
devastating storms of the 1930s Dust Bowl era swept across the
region on this day. High winds kicked up clouds of millions of
tons of dirt and dust so dense and dark that some eyewitnesses
believed the world was coming to an end.
The term "dust bowl" was reportedly coined by a reporter in the
mid-1930s and referred to the plains of western Kansas,
southeastern Colorado, the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma, and
northeastern New Mexico. By the early 1930s, the grassy plains of
this region had been over-plowed by farmers and overgrazed by
cattle and sheep. The resulting soil erosion, combined with an
eight-year drought which began in 1931, created a dire situation
for farmers and ranchers. Crops and businesses failed and an
increasing number of dust storms made people and animals sick.
Many residents fled the region in search of work in other states
such as California (as chronicled in books including John
Steinbeck s The Grapes of Wrath), and those who remained behind
struggled to support themselves.
By the mid-1930s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt s
administration introduced programs to help alleviate the farming
crisis. Among these initiatives was the establishment of the Soil
Conservation Service (SCS) in the Department of Agriculture. The
SCS promoted improved farming and land management techniques and
farmers were paid to utilize these safer practices. For many Dust
Bowl farmers, this federal aid was their only source of income at
the time.
The Dust Bowl era finally came to a close when the rains arrived
and the drought ended in 1939. Although drought would continue to
be an inevitable part of life in the region, improved farming
techniques significantly reduced the problem of soil erosion and
prevented a repeat of the 1930 s Dust Bowl devastation.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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