Sahara dust cloud smothers Caribbean

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A vast cloud of Sahara dust is blanketing the Caribbean as it heads to the U.S. with a size and concentration that experts say hasn’t been seen in half a century.

Air quality across most of the region fell to record “hazardous” levels, and experts who nicknamed the event the “Godzilla dust cloud” warned people to stay indoors and use air filters if they have them.

“This is the most significant event in the past 50 years,” said Pablo Mendez Lazaro, an environmental health specialist with the University of Puerto Rico. “Conditions are dangerous in many Caribbean islands.”

Many health specialists were concerned about those battling respiratory symptoms tied to covid-19. Lazaro, who is working with NASA to develop an alert system for the arrival of Sahara dust, said the concentration was so high in recent days that it could even have adverse effects on healthy people.

Extremely hazy conditions and limited visibility were reported from Antigua down to Trinidad & Tobago, with the event expected to last until late today. Some people posted pictures of themselves on social media wearing double masks to ward off the coronavirus and the dust, while others joked that the Caribbean looked like it had received a yellow filter movie treatment.

Jose Alamo, a meteorologist with the U.S. National Weather Service in San Juan, Puerto Rico, said the worst days for the U.S. territory would be Monday and today as the plume travels toward the U.S. southeast coast.

The main international airport in San Juan was reporting only 5-mile visibility.