Tuesday’s massive dust storm had at least one person asking an intriguing question: “When do the plagues and pestilence start?”

Long-time residents described the storm as “historic.” On Wednesday morning, people awoke to find vehicles and roofs caked with dirt. People were still without power, and dust continued to linger in the air of the city of 1.4 million.

The monster monsoon dust storm reduced visibility to nearly zero as it swept into the city. Billowing clouds of dust engulfed a 70-mile-wide by one-mile-deep swath. Gusts of up to 60 miles per hour broke trees and toppled power lines. The city airport was shut down as the dust storm sent streams of dust up to 10,000 feet into the atmosphere—absolutely dwarfing the city’s tallest buildings. Darkness descended (see pictures).

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” said 3TV meteorologist April Warnecke.

Some people said the storm reminded them of the 1930s. Others said it was something more akin to a Hollywood movie or end-of-the-world flick. But as the freeways ground to a halt and the city temporarily shuttered itself, the reality of nature’s fury would have been hard to ignore. Historic tornadoes in Joplin, massive fires in Texas, historic flooding along the Mississippi, historic flooding in North Dakota—and now a historic dust storm in Phoenix. The list of 2011 disasters seems to be growing at a historic pace.

No wonder some people are wondering if America is being cursed by God. There is certainly something wrong with the weather.

But would a loving, merciful God actually use the weather to punish people? To find out the real reason America is suffering so many natural disasters, read Why ‘Natural’ Disasters?