Dust storm envelopes south Australia

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/23/AR2009092300667.html

SYDNEY (Reuters) - A huge outback dust storm swept eastern Australia and blanketed Sydney on Wednesday, disrupting transport, forcing people indoors and stripping thousands of tonnes of valuable farmland topsoil.The dust blacked out the outback town of Broken Hill on Tuesday, forcing a zinc mine to shut down, and swept 1,167 km (725 miles) east to shroud Sydney in a red glow on Wednesday. By noon on Wednesday the storm, carrying an estimated 5 million tonnes of dust, had spread to the southern part of Australia's tropical state of Queensland.

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Australia is battling one of its worst droughts and weather officials say an El Nino is slowly developing in the Pacific which will mean drier conditions for eastern states.


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International flights were diverted from Sydney, ferries on Sydney Harbor were suspended and motorists warned to take care on roads because of poor visibility. The dust set off smoke alarms in some buildings in Sydney's central business district and halted construction. Health authorities urged people to stay indoors, warning the storm was likely to continue into Thursday. More than 200 people called emergency services with breathing difficulties. The official air quality index for New South Wales recorded pollutant levels as high as 4,164 in Sydney. A level above 200 is hazardous.
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The Bureau of Meteorology said a big cold front in New South Wales caused severe thunderstorms and gale-force winds, which whipped up the dust from the inland and spread it across Australia's most populous state. Winds of more than 100 km per hour also fanned bushfires in the state.

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