As farmers replaced native grasses with wheat crops, nutrients in the soil were lost. Since the ground become so delicate, when the Prairies were hit by a lengthy drought and a series of dust storms, farmers had difficulty growing crops. Millions of hectares of fertile topsoil, which dried up because of the drought and the poor agricultural practices conducted by the farmers, blew away. By the middle of 1931, dust storms were very common. Dust made it ways on windowsills, and even entered the homes, filling in cupboards and closets. Occasionally, the dust storms were so awful that they even made visibility a problem for people. Moreover, a swarm of grasshoppers made their presence on the Prairies, impacting trains, buses, and cars. They "added insult to injury" as they essentially wiped out the crops that farmers had managed to grow under the catastrophic conditions of the drought. As a result of these events, farmers were forced to leave their farms and homes. Since farmers could no longer earn money, they had trouble purchasing food for their families. Unfortunately, this was the only way the farmers could respond. They had to forget about the farms that they had put so much effort into.
These are the scenes of the dust storms/dust bowls in the Prairies, which forced people out of their homes.