A significant dust storm swept through Libya on Tuesday, leading to reduced visibility and the temporary halting of flights at two major international airports in Benghazi and Tripoli. Located in the Sahara Desert, Libya is susceptible to dust storms, with these events typically occurring in the spring and peaking in April. Dust storms form when powerful winds from thunderstorms lift dry soil, carrying dust and sand over long distances in the air.
Benghazi, the country’s second-largest city situated on the eastern coast, experienced the most severe impact of the storm, with the city blanketed in a thick orange haze. The scenes in Benghazi during the dust storm were surreal, reminiscent of the imagery from the movie “Dune.”
Photographs captured during the storm depict a man photographing a building, pigeons near a fountain, people taking pictures by the seaside, and an empty coastline road covered in the orange dust storm in Benghazi.