Red Dust Storm Covers Australia’s East Coast

Amid freak weather conditions, storms of red dust have created a gleaming orange sky over greater part of Australia’s east coast.

After the worst storm in the last 70 years hit Australia, the Sydney Opera House turned orange, flights at Sydney and Brisbane airports were delayed, building sites were closed, and workers choked and emergency departments were inundated with calls.

According to reports, the thick red air reduced visibility to less than 100 metres on Sydney harbour and covered the city’s popular bridge in a ghostly colour. One commuter, who had to catch the bust to the city for ferries were cancelled, got the chance to take photograph of the Armageddon-like scene.

“I woke up and there was this unbelievable golden hue,” Alex Wagstaff was quoted as saying by a Sydney newspaper.

“It is really interesting light, it’s going to be quite a challenge.”

Due to storm, ferries were suspended and the M5 tunnel, a major road into the city, was closed, thus putting commuter in chaos.

At Sydney airport, visibility was reduced to 400 metres, so flights were cancelled and many international flights were diverted to Melbourne, where flights were also delayed, as they were at Brisbane airport in Queensland.

According to a weather official at the NSW meteorology bureau, Barry Hanstrum, the storm was “one of the worst, if not the worst”.

“An event like this is extremely rare,” he said.

As dust blanketed the east coast last night, heavy rains lashed Adelaide in the nation’s south, flooding streets.

At dawn, two tremors shook Melbourne. Later in the day hailstones as big as cricket balls pelted parts of New South Wales. Heavy rain is expected to follow and flash-flood warnings have been issued.

While residents in the south brace for rain, Queenslanders are preparing for fires to erupt with the unseasonally dry weather in the far north where firefighters battled several blazes yesterday.

The bureau of meteorology said it was the worst dust storm since the 1940s, with particle pollution up to 10 times worse than the previous record. Another dust storm is predicted in the next day or two.

Health officials were urging people to stay inside as Sydney’s air was expected to remain choked with particles for up to three more days.