The storms
Farmland was made useless when topsoil was blown off the already dry fields. In 1934, an estimated 100 million acres of farmland lost their topsoil during dust storms. Not only did this affect this region of the nation, but the whole country, in the central and northern plains. Dust storms became more common and wiped farmers of their land. Farmers and their families became poor and hungry, and began a less than successful search for new jobs. In April of 1935, the worst of the storms hit. One person who experienced the storm, Avis D. Carlson, described the impact as a "shovelful of fine sand flung against the face," and said "People caught in their own yards grope for the doorstep. Cars come to a standstill, for no light in the world can penetrate that swirling murk... We live with the dust, eat it, sleep with it, watch it strip us of possessions and the hope of possessions. It is becoming Real."