Thousands of tumbleweeds roll into towns piling up 10ft high and burying cars
Communities in Utah have been swamped in massive drifts of tumbleweeds with roads blocked and vehicles buried under the plants.
In what is being called 'tumble-mageddon' by locals, the town of South Jordan just south of Salt Lake City, is contending with 3-metre (10ft) tall piles of the invasive plants which rolled into town after strong winds. Thousands upon thousands of tumbleweeds clogged the streets in South Jordan with similar scenes upholding in Eagle Mountain, further to the south.
Local news outlet KSL TV reported residents using hoes and shovels to plough paths through the weeds before municipal workers arrived with garbage trucks to clean up. Trees were torn down causing damage to roads and city infrastructure, ABC4 reported, with the effects of the storm felt far and wide throughout Utah.
READ MORE: Watch 'fire tornado' take tumbleweed for a spin in unbelievable weather phenomenon
Locals and city workers have been battling to get rid of the massie piles of plants (X)The state was battered by wind gusts of over 100 km/h (65mph) hit the state over the weekend. The city is expected to post a list of sites for tumbleweed disposal and has asked residents to report wind damage incidents.
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Hot on the heels of the tumbleweeds South Jordan was hit by snow as a cold front arrived just hours after the plants leaving residents to contend with severe weather as well as the invasion of plants. “Luckily, it’s something we can handle,” said Rachel Van Cleave, South Jordan communications manager. “This is not our first tumble-mageddon.”
Speaking to KSL local resident John Young said: “We’ve had a few tumbleweeds but nothing like this,. We had an area over here that filled up two years ago, maybe. But nothing to this volume. It’s absolutely crazy.”
The influx has been branded 'tumble-mageddon' by some locals (X)The plants plaguing Utah are tumbleweeds formed by invasive weeds called Russian thistle. The plants die back in winter and snap off at the stem, with the bushy top part of the plant carried across the open desert on the wind, shedding its seeds as it tumbles.
Residents in Washington state were buried under a glut of tumbleweeds with drivers trapped in their cars under 15ft high piles of the weeds in 2020. Authorities were forced to close a highway in both directions until the path had been cleared.
Meanwhile parts of a town in Australia were completely buried beneath a type of tumbleweed called the Hairy Panic. In 2016 residents of Wangaratta in Victoria, Australia found drifts of the plant had swallowed front and back gardens and garages, buried cars and risen as high as the rooftops.
Jason Perna told Channel 7 : "It is frustrating. You know that you've got a good couple of hours work ahead of you and that's always sort of displeasing." Pam Twitchett added: "It's physically draining and mentally more draining."
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