Millions of people in New South Wales and Queensland are looking up at orange skies today after dust storms hit areas from greater Sydney in the south
to Brisbane in the north.
Sydney awoke to an eerie red dawn this morning after strong north-westerly overnight winds dumped thousands of tonnes of dust on the Harbour City. The
story was the same in the Hunter Valley, Wollongong, and in areas further west around Broken Hill.
Later in the day the dust arrived in Brisbane, with the Queensland capital bathed in an orange glow, but conditions were less severe than those
further south.
The weather bureau says it is the worst dust storm since the 1940s and the NSW Environment Department's Chris Eiser says the particle pollution is 10
times the worst on record.
The Sydney Opera House turned orange as the haze covered the city and flights were delayed and diverted.
The Sydney dust cloud is expected to hang around until later this afternoon and ABC weather forecaster Graham Creed says particles in the air have
reached dangerous levels.
"They're classed as dangerous at levels above 200," he said.
"In Sydney's east they're recording about 256, in the north-west 919, and in the south-west 1,719. But Sydney is not the worst, Bathurst at the moment
is 2,665."
Emergency departments are under pressure after at least 250 people across New South Wales called 000 with breathing problems.
The Health Department is urging people to stay indoors and says the conditions are likely to continue tomorrow.
As high winds pushed the haze into southern Queensland, fire crews said they were worried it could complicate the fight against at least a dozen
bushfires which had flared across the region. |
