Gilbert Goh, Main Stories, TOC International - Monday, September 28, 2009 14:37 - 13 Comments

I survived the Red Storm in Sydney

Gilbert Goh / Sydney, Australia

I experienced the mother of all storms in Sydney last week when I woke up to a cold and dusty morning completely darkened by a reddish dull cloud of dust. It looked like Sydney was on fire!

(right: Sydney Opera House awashed in red.)

The air also felt funny and thick and I had some difficulty breathing well. For those who have been to Sydney, the air is always crisp and fresh.The state boasts of having one of the freshest air conditions in Australia due to the many surrounding ocean drifts.

Unusually Warm Winter

Australia, this year, is experiencing one of its warmest winters in 30 years with average temperature hitting close to approximately 20 degrees celcius. Normally, average winter temperature hovers around the high tens to low twenties. I was in Goldcoast in July and I wore shorts and a tee shirt as the weather was unbearably warm.  In Brisbane Queensland, it gets even worse on some days when temperatures hit the mid thirties! On 24 Aug, the warmest day in winter was recorded in Brisbane – 35 degrees celcius. That’s almost the temperature in Singapore, on a winter day in Australia! Due to the high temperature, winter this year ended almost one month earlier for most of us.

“It’s all because of the predominance of north-west winds coming from the Northern Territory. You don’t normally get them in August, you usually get south-westerlies,” said Meteorologist Livio Regano, trying to explain the unusual winter warmth this year.

Back to the storm,  I already felt strange the night before when I went out for dinner. The weather was unusually cold for spring and the sky was lighted by wild shots of lightning for well over an hour. For those familiar with weather forecasts, such signals are normally prelude to the arrival of a storm

The night before, we had to bring in all the laundry as the wind was so wild and strong – a first for us. You could sense something was amiss. This was the first time that we had to bring in the laundry which we parked in the kitchen.

(left: Sydney on a typical cloudy day)

That night, the news forecasted a gale force for Sydney the next day. However, they didn’t annouce that it would be so wild, devastating and most of all, in red! Sydney was really lashed and unprepared.

Rain pattered on and off during the whole night and I  sensed that it was different from any other night. Call it the sixth sense if you want. I had an restless night filled with awful dreams throughout my sleep.

When I woke up, I was shocked as the sky was blurred and yellowish red. I was accustomed to being greeted by a clear bluish sky every morning, which never fail to make my day.

That day, I couldn’t even see more than 50 metres away. Ambulances and fire engines kept their siren on for the whole morning as they rushed to rescue people trapped by trees falling on their home or on top of their cars.

Roofs were blown off as the red storm descended on a shocked Sydney city. I also heard many airplanes coming in and out of my area which was unusual as I do not live close to the airport. I later realised that airplanes were stranded as they could not land due to the low visibility. They were then diverted to other airports in Melbourne and Canberra.

I spent half an hour clearing the balcony of a thick omnious-looking layer of red dust. I counted myself fortunate to have brought in the laundry the night before, sparing them from being permanently dyed a rusty red. Stained clothes are almost unwashable and have to be disposed of.

Devastating Impact Of Red Storm

About five million tonnes of soil swept across southeast Queensland and NSW (New South Wales) yesterday.

The storm has been blamed for an increase in asthma attacks, but cleaning and car wash companies are expecting a record day today.

Measured at seven times that of a “severe” dust storm, scientists think there is enough sediment still airborne for it to travel more than 3000km to north Queensland in one or two days.  More than 75000 tonnes of dust drifted across NSW every hour yesterday. Once settled, it reached a total height of 3km and measured 600 km to 800 km in width!

Dust concentrations in Sydney were 10 to 20 times worse than the recommended air quality while in Brisbane readings on dust levels and visibility were the worst since the major storm of 2002.  A hazardous air pollutant mark on the index reads about 200 but yesterday it was at 1700!

Twenty four international flights were diverted, delayed or cancelled at the Sydney Airport with many domestic flights also disrupted yesterday. Travellers were requested not to travel so as not to complicate the already chaotic travel schedule.

As many as 27,000 workers did not report to work for various reasons disrupting proper work flow in NSW. Business loss was reported to be in their tens of millions.

As I walked around my neighbourhood, people came out wild-eyed and in shock. Many wore masks and children were absent as it was difficult to breathe with the dusty air. The strong wind ensured that the dust was constantly swirling up in the air. The blue clear sky disappeared and it seemed as though I had been transported into a desert environment. I had to shake my head a few times to clear my mind of this unease.

A sea of red dust also descended on the walk way. The white-collared cars all temporarily turned into red ones as they were parked along the sidewalks unattended. This experience was mind blowing and surreal.

Shops closed all their doors to prevent dust from sweeping in. The geity of spring was absent from the small community in my area as people just picked up their stuff and straightaway headed home. Winter clothing, absent for a while, came back as people tried to keep warm in cold freezing weather yesterday.

I was glad that the dust storm was over but was jolted by the bad news when the weather forecast station today predicted another upcoming storm on Saturday! Though forecasted to be lesser in scale than yesterday’s Red Storm, it will not be a comfortable day to be in for sure.

Effects of Environmental Change

Aussies  were all reminded of the terrible tragedy of Black Saturday Bushfires earlier this year when as many as 200 people were killed as a result of an unusually high temperature in Victoria, in February. That day, temperatures reached a record scorching hot of 46.6 degrees celcius. Hundreds of bushfires caught many residents unaware and fire fighters were stretched to the limit.

Many blame the environmental change worldwide that affected Australia’s weather. Winters get warmer and summer just gets hotter every year. Due to a widening ozone layer in the Aussie sky, several thousands of  sun lovers are afflicted with skin cancer yearly.

A climate change expert says a predicted shift in El Nino ocean warming patterns will make northern Australian monsoons more intense.

Korean researchers also published in the journal Nature, predicting that an El Nino weather effect – called Modoki – will become five times more common.

Professor Matthew England from the University of New South Wales says while this will increase the severity of the northern monsoon, its impact on southern Australia’s climate is less certain.

Ironically, the Red Storm hit Down Under when Prime Minister Kelvin Rudd was in New York, attending the climate talks at the United Nations.