Disaster struck Sodom and Gomorrah suddenly and without warning.. Similarly, Pompeii was destroyed by a volcano. We find remnants of its population encased in volcanic ash. In a similar way, Lot's wife looked back (probably stopped to look and fell behind the others) and was possibly engulfed by an advancing salt cloud, much like those at Pompeii who were covered over by volcanic ash (she probably became disoriented and lost in the dense salt cloud separating her from the others).