Dust storm set to hit South Australia

source: http:www.abc.net.au (FB: Tim Phillips)

CANBERRA -- South Australians with asthma and other health conditions have been advised to stay indoors as a dangerous dust storm bears down on the state.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) warned that strong northerly winds of up to 100 km per hour were expected to South Australia (SA) on Thursday night and continue throughout Friday, reported Xinhua.

The BOM warned that the winds would pick up large amounts of dust following the driest July in SA since 1999.

It has been compared to a freak thunderstorm asthma event that swept across Victoria in 2016, killing 10 people.

SA Health advised people with breathing or heart conditions to stay indoors during the event. "If there is an associated dust storm with these winds, people with pre-existing illnesses such as asthma and respiratory problems may have their symptoms aggravated," chief medical officer Paddy Phillips told reporters on Thursday.

"We advise those people to avoid exposure to dust, stay indoors, take medication as usual and avoid exercise in areas of high dust.

"While everyone may feel discomfort during dust storms, the people who need to be most alert to these weather conditions are those with pre-existing conditions."

The Victorian thunderstorm asthma event occurred when a sudden cool change caused pollen to burst into particles small enough to be inhaled, causing widespread breathing difficulties.

Michele Goldman, chief executive of Asthma Australia, said that dust also had the potential to burst into small particles.

"Thunderstorms ... can lift the dust up into the atmosphere, distribute it over a wide geographic area, so people who are triggered by dust need to be conscientious today," Goldman told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Thursday.

"It is a rare event. I've been working in the asthma field for about a decade and it's probably once or twice that I've had dust storms that have caused concerns to health authorities. With climate change ... we are going to see a lot more of things like thunderstorms, variations in the amount of pollen (and) dust." -- Bernama

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