Outback Dust Storm Passes Through Sydney Sparking Health Warning
Sydneysiders Warned to Stay Indoors as Outback Dust Storm Looms
(Bloomberg) -- A dust storm that engulfed parts of Australia’s outback has swept through the country’s biggest city, sparking public health warnings over poor air quality.
Sydney was blanketed in thick haze on Thursday morning as the storm front, caused by strong winds whipping up dust in drought-affected areas, made its way through the city. By late afternoon skies over the central business district were much clearer.
Air quality was rated as “very poor” in the east and southwest regions of the city and “hazardous” in the northwest by the state government’s environment department, which warned people with heart or lung disease to stay indoors as much as possible.
A similar weather event hit back in 2009, as a dust storm blanketed the city in an orange glow and caused the state government to lift its air quality warning to “hazardous.”
Australia is the driest inhabited continent on the planet and farmers in parts of the country have been struggling amid severe drought conditions for much of the year.
To contact the reporter on this story: James Thornhill in Sydney at jthornhill3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ramsey Al-Rikabi at ralrikabi@bloomberg.net, Edward Johnson
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