While a lot of people were fixated on the Icelandic volcano that was disrupting air traffic throughout Europe, Guatemala had its own huge troubles to deal with. Pacaya erupted on May 5 and spouted grainy black sand for an 85-mile radius. Guatemala City fell within that radius, so the country’s busiest airport was shut down for days. Now, the sand is still hanging around despite daily sweeping, shoveling, scooping and scouring. It’s a mess. What’s far worse, the volcano came on top of the devastating storms that caused flooding and hundreds of deaths. Here are some shots of the black sand that refuses to wash itself away.

Photos by William Russell Powell

Austin Bailey and Russ Powell are in Guatemala this week to check in on Heifer projects there. You can read about their trip in World Ark magazine.