Update: Blowing dirt closed Tri-Cities highways after causing 3 chain-reaction crashes
The same section of Interstate 82 south of Richland was closed for more than five hours Thursday as a dust storm triggered two chain-reaction crashes.
With gusts of up to 47 mph recorded at the Tri-Cities Airport, the winds sent dirt blowing across stretches of highway throughout the Mid-Columbia region.
The low visibility led to a pileup of four-semi trucks and a pickup on I-82 near Dallas Road at 6 p.m., and then another three-car crash at nearly the same spot three hours later.
In all, three people were taken to area hospitals including a 63-year-old Prosser woman, 58-year-old Ferndale man and a 21-year-old Sunnyside man.
The semi crash happened when one of the southbound semis slowed down, causing the other trucks to slam into each other, said the Washington State Patrol.
It was a similar situation at just before 9 p.m. when a car slowed because of poor visibility and was hit from behind.
Near Hanford, Highway 24 also was closed Thursday afternoon at the site’s Yakima Barricade due to blowing dust and a multiple-vehicle crash, according to officials at the nuclear reservation.
About 1:30 p.m. Thursday the Hanford Fire Department responded to a crash that involved a semi truck and other vehicles in the blowing debris.
No major injuries were reported.
The Washington state Department of Transportation later closed the highway from the Yakima Barricade west to Highway 241, which goes to Sunnyside, until almost 6 p.m.
This story was originally published May 27, 2021 at 4:01 PM.