Roughly 2.5 million people left the Dust Bowl states— Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma —during the 1930s. It was one of the largest migrations in American history. Oklahoma alone lost 440,000 people to migration. Many of them, poverty-stricken, traveled west looking for work.
How many states were severely affected by the Dust Bowl?
The drought was the worst ever in U.S. history, covering more than 75 percent of the country and severely affecting 27 states .
What was the Dust Bowl and what states were affected by it?
The primary impact area of the Dust Bowl, as it came to be known, was on the Southern Plains. ... One hundred million acres of the Southern Plains were turning into a wasteland of the Dust Bowl. Large sections of five states were affected — Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico .
What state suffered the most from the Dust Bowl?
Arthur Rothstein, 1936 (image courtesy of the Library of Congress). Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas , and Kansas were all a part of the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. In Oklahoma, the panhandle cities and towns suffered the worst droughts and dust storms (map courtesy of PBS).
What states did the Dust Bowl hit?
Although it technically refers to the western third of Kansas, southeastern Colorado, the Oklahoma Panhandle , the northern two-thirds of the Texas Panhandle, and northeastern New Mexico, the Dust Bowl has come to symbolize the hardships of the entire nation during the 1930s.
Can the Dust Bowl happen again?
More than eight decades later, the summer of 1936 remains the hottest summer on record in the U.S. However, new research finds that the heat waves that powered the Dust Bowl are now 2.5 times more likely to happen again in our modern climate due to another type of manmade crisis — climate change.
How many years did the Dust Bowl last?
The Dust Bowl, also known as “the Dirty Thirties,” started in 1930 and lasted for about a decade , but its long-term economic impacts on the region lingered much longer. Severe drought hit the Midwest and Southern Great Plains in 1930. Massive dust storms began in 1931.
What stopped the Dust Bowl?
While the dust was greatly reduced thanks to ramped up conservation efforts and sustainable farming practices, the drought was still in full effect in April of 1939. ... In the fall of 1939, rain finally returned in significant amounts to many areas of the Great Plains, signaling the end of the Dust Bowl.
How many acres were ruined in the Dust Bowl?
Millions of people were rendered homeless by the Dust Bowl. Dust Bowl covered over 100 million acres of land and when it struck, 2.5 million people with schools, businesses and work places left the Great Plains.
What problems did the Dust Bowl cause?
The drought, winds and dust clouds of the Dust Bowl killed important crops (like wheat), caused ecological harm, and resulted in and exasperated poverty . Prices for crops plummeted below subsistence levels, causing a widespread exodus of farmers and their families out the affected regions.
What effects did the Dust Bowl have on the economy?
Prices paid for crops dropped sharply and farmers fell into debt . In 1929 the average annual income for an American family was $750, but for farm families if was only $273. The problems in the agricultural sector had a large impact since 30% of Americans still lived on farms [7].
Where did the farmers go during the Dust Bowl?
The one-two punch of economic depression and bad weather put many farmers out of business. In the early 1930s, thousands of Dust Bowl refugees — mainly from Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Kansas, and New Mexico — packed up their families and migrated west, hoping to find work.
What state was hit the hardest by the Great Depression?
What is often referred to as the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression hit the great farming areas of the US the hardest. States like Oklahoma , the panhandle of Texas, Kansas, Colorado and Portions of New Mexico were devastated. Tens of thousands of farmers lost their lands and had to migrate elsewhere.
Which Dust Bowl hits the hardest?
In Oklahoma, the Panhandle area was hit hardest by the drought. The land of the southern plains, including Oklahoma, was originally covered with grasses that held the fine soil in place. Settlers brought their traditional farming techniques with them when they homesteaded the area and they plowed the land deeply.
What caused the Dirty Thirties?
The decade became known as the Dirty Thirties due to a crippling droughtin the Prairies , as well as Canada’s dependence on raw material and farm exports. Widespread losses of jobs and savings transformed the country. The Depression triggered the birth of social welfare and the rise of populist political movements.
