Freak windstorm fells trees throughout Dhahran, but no damage in Abqaiq or Ras Tanura.
A freak windstorm whirled down King's Road Sunday afternoon, toppling some of Dhahran's tallest trees as well as damaging roofs and portable buildings in the community. The sidewalk and wall crumbled when the tree at House 1424-A was uprooted.
From the May 1, 1957 edition of The Sun and Flare.
Sudden gusts of winds, reaching a velocity of 52 miles per hour, left a line of uprooted trees, buckled towers, and damaged roofs early Sunday afternoon in Dhahran and the surrounding area.
The trees along King's Road were the main casualties as the wind whipped down the street between the ball park and the dining hall, toppling three of the largest trees in its path.
At F Street, an aluminum Palmer building was tumbled 200 feet from the ice stand to the northeast corner of the carpenter shop.
The roof of one of the in-line dormitories in al-Salamah was blown away, and roofing was stripped from the medical storage building in Dhahran.
Steel power towers No. 177 and 178, three miles north of Dhahran, buckled under the strength of the wind. These towers are being replaced by wooden towers.
No damage was reported from Abqaiq or Ras Tanura.
— The Arabian Sun: May 01, 2023