I didn’t gather that from the article — they said the harm has been there since at least WW 2. As far as the family that had to move — this was based on the journo’s interview of them, and perhaps they exaggerated. However, if you look at pictures of the Oklahoma Dust Bowl, there are pictures of equipment and homes buried in FEET of dust, so maybe it’s not 100% surprising.
As far as why they didn’t move ASAP, people are surprisingly attached to their homes, and if a “middle-class” family dropped $300-400k on a home, do they really have money for mortgage, taxes, insurance, etc AND rent on an apartment or a motel room for weeks on end?
