Massive Dust Storm Hits Sydney
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A massive dust storm has descended upon my beautiful home town of Sydney this morning.
It's about 9.30 on Wednesday morning here in Sydney as I write this post. I woke this morning to find the sky a startling shade of orange. Everything is coated in a fine orange dust.
Yesterday was a gloriously warm, sunny spring day. Almost too hot for spring. More like summer. Last night's news bulletins warned of a massive dust storm descending upon Sydney from the west. The television news showed images of Australia's capital city, Canberra, situated to Sydney's south-west. Visibility looked minimal there, through a dense, orange haze. And that's exactly what Sydney has woken to this morning. The air is dense with orange dust and the wind is blowing furiously. The beautiful day of yesterday has turned into a cold, dark, overcast day, with no sunshine and minimal visibility. In the 59 years I've lived in Sydney, I have never seen anyhting like this. Is it something to do with global warming, I wonder? Climate change? Whatever it is, I don't like it. It looks like the end of the world out there!
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Yes, that is Sydney's iconic and much-loved Opera House through the gloom (upper left)
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Martin Place in the heart of Sydney, on what should be a sunny spring morning!
Yep, it was all done and dusted (groan!) in 24 hours, Shasta, but looked like the end of the world at the time! :o
I didn't hear of businesses or schools closing. However, many flights to Sydney airport were either cancelled or diverted. Sydney's extensive ferry fleet was mostly cancelled for the day and extra buses were put on to carry the ferry passengers the long way around. On last night's television news it was reported that restaurants and cafes couldn't serve at their outdoor tables. And main street, shop-front stores had lots of trouble keeping their indoor stock clean, 'cause everytime a customer opened the front door, they took a ton of dust in with them, carried on the fierce winds that were blowing. Also, most schools kept children indoors throughout the day and they had their lunch indoors, rather than in the school yard.
I'm glad to see the end of it. Where I'm house-sitting this week, I'm looking after my friend's prized rose garden while he's away. Well, what a mess it was yesterday! All covered in orange dust. But despite the fierce winds, I noticed this morning that only three stems have been broken. All the other roses survived. I gave them a good hosing this morning and they're looking lovely now.
My breathing became quite laboured last night and I had to take an allergy pill, which solved the problem and I slept soundly.
The dust storm would have probably looked weird from an airplane--maybe pretty scary too!
Many children have asthma, so that was wise to keep them inside while all that was going on. I'm glad to hear that your allergy medicine worked to help your breathing problem.
And--your friends will be happy to see their roses none the worse for the storm!
Will you have to dust when you get home--or is your place pretty airtight? It would have come in through my window panes and under the door jambs for sure!
Take care and here's to blue clear skies!!
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