Travellers to Sydney suffered chaos on September 23rd when a
freak dust storm covered Australia’s biggest city with a
forbidding blood-orange glow. Winds of up to 100kph carried the
thick, red dust from outback South Australia about 1,500 km
across New South Wales. Visibility at Sydney airport was so bad
that incoming international flights were diverted to other
cities. Commuter ferries on Sydney Harbour were cancelled. The
dust enveloped Sydney for most of the day, before moving north
to Brisbane and out to sea. Some authorities claimed it was
Australia’s worst dust storm in 70 years. A Bureau of
Meteorology official said: “It’s one of the worst, if not the
worst.” Although life quickly returned to normal after the cloud
lifted, authorities are worried about more disruptions unless
rains fall on the drought-parched outback as Australia’s summer
season approaches. (Photo credit: EPA)