India, May 17 -- In Normal, Illinois, a wall of dust rolled toward a subdivision just before 5 PM, prompting the National Weather Service (NWS) to issue a dust storm warning for McLean County that remained in effect until 6:45 PM Areas in and around Chicago were hit with sudden walls of dust, carried by powerful wind gusts.

Images and videos of the storm quickly spread online, showing eerie scenes that looked more like the Arizona desert than the Midwest.

The dust storm spread rapidly across central and east-central Illinois, driven by wind gusts reaching up to 60 miles per hour. Emergency responders reported "near zero visibility," and by late afternoon, a serious multi-vehicle accident had been confirmed along Interstate 74 in DeWitt ...