Facts about the Dust Bowl
Dust Bowl
Region of Six States
Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, and New Mexico
Time Period
1930s (also known as the Dirty Thirties)
Four Distinct Drought Periods
1930–31, 1934, 1936, and 1939–40
Black Sunday, April 14, 1935
Drought
an extended period of less rainfall than expected
Other Problems
Dust Storms, Soil Erosion, Crop Failures, Lost Income
Dust Bowl Exodus
Largest Migration in American history
2.5 million people left the Great Plains (by 1940)
Migrants from OK
to CA
“Okies”
Estimate Drought
Relief Paid by
Federal
Government
from 1933 to 1940
$ 1 Billion (1930 dollars)
21% of all families in the Great Plains received government assistance in 1937
Droughts Today
Compared with floods and earthquakes, droughts cause the fewest fatalities but the
highest economic costs on an annual basis.
Average Annual Cost of a Drought $6-8 Billion
Costliest Drought: 1988-89
$40 Billion