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Mysterious powder swamps US skies as baffled residents report cars covered in murky dust across multiple counties
A STRANGE powder has been observed in the sky, coating cars in three states across the country.
People on social media reported seeing the dust-like substance in the air and on cars in Maryland, northern Virginia, and West Virginia, on Friday.
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The strange reports have prompted the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection to investigate the powder.
They will work with state and local agencies to collect and analyze samples of the substance.
Residents in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle, which is roughly 100 miles west of Washington, D.C., reported seeing the powder in multiple counties late Thursday night.
The Maryland Department of the Environment said that the powder likely came from Texas and New Mexico.
But they said a wind shift has since brought clean air from Canada.
Monitoring systems recorded good air quality on Friday, the agency said.
Dust from storms in the two southwestern states traveled east through Ohio, Michigan, and Kentucky on Thursday, satellite images captured by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association reportedly showed.
A West Virginian state lab will test the powder to see if it's related to the recent dust storms in the Midwest, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection said.
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West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Terry Fletcher said that there's no indication that the dust-like substance is related to the Ohio train derailment.
He said that the Northern Panhandles hasn't had any air quality problems since the toxic train crash on February 3.
It's been almost a month since a cargo train carrying hazardous materials such as vinyl chloride, derailed in East Palestine, Ohio.
While environmental officials continue to say that air quality levels in the area are normal, residents have complained about health issues that they worry are related to the crash.
Some of these health issues include headaches, rashes, nausea, and sore throats.
ANIMALS FALL SICK
Locals like Taylor Holzer and his family, who run Parker Dairy and live just outside the evacuation area, are claiming to feel the affects of the crash.
Holzer is registered as a fox keeper with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and told that some of his foxes have been acting strange after the derailment, with a few having "abnormally puffy faces" and others refusing to eat.
Many also have stomach issues, according to Holzer.
These issues, he claimed, are from the nearby derailment and the chemicals that were released.
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“Smoke and chemicals from the train, that’s the only thing that can cause it, because it doesn’t just happen out of nowhere,” Holzer claimed.
“The chemicals that we’re being told are safe in the air, that’s definitely not safe for the animals … or people.”
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