Khamaseen and Road 9

Today Cairo was hit with the Khamaseen. According to arab.net, "Spring in Egypt is generally mild but plagued by the khamaseen, a hot and bitter wind which brings blinding sand and dust storms and heralds the coming of summer."

I finally found someone who might be able to fix my Nikon D70 and called around 10:30 AM. About 11:00 AM the sky turned yellow, along with a hot uncomfortable breeze. I immediately shuttered up the apartment and pulled the drapes. I could only see out from the kitchen and sunroom where trees were bending in the wind. I hoped it would diminish quickly as did the sandstorm we had over a week ago. No such luck. So I headed on down to Road 9 where the camera man is located. I packed my camera in an LLBean canvas bag and tied a scarf around my neck to grab so I could quickly cover my nose and mouth when the wind blew. On my way to Road 9 I saw damage on several streets from the high winds.

The scene on Road 9, was pretty chaotic, since traffic had to be diverted. A huge tree, across the street from Beano's was knocked over by the winds, blocking the road. Here are several views from different angles.


As for my Nikon D70, the camera man said if it's just dirt, that's simple to fix. If not, then it'll be more difficult. I also gave him my two lenses to clean. Twisting the focus ring he could hear sand scraping around, which just makes me sick. How do I take photos around here and protect my camera too? He sugggested a UVA filter. I'm not sure that'll be enough though. I have no idea how long it will take to find anything out about the camera, but I hope the damn thing is just dirty. Otherwise I will be without my favorite camera until sometime in June.

On the other hand, I did find a camera man and he is located on Road 9. "If they don't have it on Road 9, then you don't need it."