Such conditions resulted in a pileup on Interstate 70 last week in western Kansas involving dozens of cars and trucks that left eight people dead. Blinding dust also prompted New Mexico's transportation department to close Interstate 25 from the Colorado border southwest to Las Vegas, New Mexico.

A Barrington native who was on her way back to visit family in the suburbs said it's a miracle she and her partner survived being caught in a Kansas dust storm highway pileup involving more than 70 vehicles.