Sandstorm damage is extremely annoying, on desert scrap in particular where for many it almost or totally ruins the map.
A possible solution for this exists already in a less pronounced form - wind. Its already moderately strong on scrap in the storms - parking a galleon broadside on to the wind near the back wall will get you bounced off it a bit. How about expanding this to replace the component damage, having a semi-random pattern of winds (with up, down and sideways components in addition to forwards) that moves along inside each storm. To add to the disorientation some limits could be placed on the map and or compass indicators, maybe ships in sandstorms shown slightly faded in a slightly inaccurate position. On desert scrap it might provide an incentive to fight out in front of the opening as well as inside.
A smaller idea - replacing the current flat damage with random chunks of damage to make it more interesting/less obnoxious 'crunch' 'crunch' 'crunch' noise