Already stressed by collapsing food prices, farm families in the Great Plains endured a series of dust storms that severely damaged the ecology and agriculture of the prairies. The Dust Bowl was caused by a combination of severe drought, an insufficient understanding of the ecosystem, and a refusal to apply Indigenous agricultural methods and dryland farming techniques that would prevent topsoil erosion. It resulted in the displacement of thousands of farm families — many of whom headed west to California and other coastal states.