Sharp winds laden with sand have buffeted streets, uprooted trees and obstructed road traffic in eastern and central parts of the country.
This natural phenomenon may only occur on rare occasions, but it does create small yet treacherous mounds of sand, known as dunes, which have caused frequent accidents on desert highways in certain regions of the Kingdom.
Many drivers, especially on the Riyadh-Dammam Expressway, have warned of accidents taking place due to these dunes forming on the roads, according to Al-Riyadh daily.
Drivers are caught unawares by these sand hills and are often involved in accidents following a drastic drop in visibility.
Dunes form when sand left over from a sandstorm accumulates into ridges, which initially lie parallel to the direction of prevailing winds. Over time these ridges may break up and a more irregular arrangement of mounds forms.
Abdul Baqi Al-Taisan, head of the environment department at the faculty of architecture and planning at King Faisal University in Dammam, says sand dunes are a global phenomenon faced by countries that have predominantly desert areas, such as Saudi Arabia.
Almost half of the Kingdom is uninhabitable desert and there is not much in terms of flora and fauna.
He noted that there have been no collective efforts to solve problems caused by sand dunes. "The Ministry of Agriculture and various municipalities representing the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, as well as private companies, have been exerting efforts on their own to solve this problem but there has been no coordination among them," he said.
Spokesman for the Eastern Province municipality Hussein Al-Baluchi said that the authority has contracted cleaning companies to remove the pileups of sand caused by sandstorms on roads and streets in the province, especially during the summer. "We have mobilized all of our machinery to tackle any unexpected and emergency situations caused by sand dunes during the current summer season," he said.
Al-Taisan said several countries have been successful in reducing the impact of sandstorms and subsequent sand dunes on road users.
He added that they have benefited from Saudi Arabia's expertise, especially after what happened to the village of Al-Omran, located northeast of Al-Ahsa.
The village was totally buried in huge dunes formed by sandstorms three decades ago, prompting the Ministry of Agriculture to introduce a series of preventative measures to avoid a repeat of the catastrophe.
The ministry had resorted to covering sand dunes with asphalt in order to prevent them from spilling over onto highways and hampering traffic.
However, this experiment was not successful in the long run as the dunes managed to break their asphalt covers and spill over onto the roads. Subsequently, the ministry sought the advice of Chinese and Australian experts.
These experts proposed the large-scale planting of tamarisk that can have an impact on natural systems in areas susceptible to sandstorms. This experiment was fruitful in containing further formations of sand dunes.
The project turned the village and surrounding areas into a national park. This proves that sand dunes can be contained if addressed using biological and natural remedies. "This unique experiment has turned Al-Omran into a model village, where residents were now content with the effective measures taken to contain sand dunes," said local resident Al-Haj Abu Motlaq.
Natural remedies proposed to contain dune threat
