Massive Dust Storm Hits the East Coast of Australia

This Wednesday just gone, we had the biggest dust storm in modern Australian History. First it hit Canberra (our country's capital) blanketed that place for the day. Then, it coated Sydney in a horrible red hue so bad the ferries were canceled, the airports were closed as were all the schools; and eventually, most of the cafes around the place just ended up closing up too. Then, it hit Brisbane here in Queensland. Now, we've had dust storms before; and that was around three or four years ago; however, this one was really bad!
I was sitting at my computer here blogging and surfing the net when I noticed the sky was that familiar weird golden colour, the wind had picked up and my bird (she's the one on my profile photo) going absolutely crazy downstairs. So, I got up and checked out her noise to find that the wind was dreadfully strong and dusty. Fortunately, I had picked up my camera before taking off downstairs and waited for the storm to get really bad before going outside to take these photos here at my place.
And that wasn't the worse of it: I was destined to go out to the lunch with my Mum, Aunt, Oma and brother and niece to Diggers at Logan Central. So, I armed myself with my camera and a bandanna and braved the haze to wait outside to be picked up. But once at the RSL, we could still smell - and feel - the dust inside the place. And we were told the air-conditioner was really struggling with the amount of desert dust that was being filtered through it. Have to say that was a lot better than being out in it. After lunch, I got my brother to take my niece and me to the Logan Art Gallery to show him ArtWaves (an exhibition of high school kids around Logan where they're judged and it's a competition too). Reluctantly, he took us and was amazed at the quality of work that was on display; wishing he had been encouraged at high school like kids today. But we could still smell the dust in the gallery too; however, considering how old the air-conditioner there is, it was a wonder that one didn't break down (we nick-name it Methuselah because it's been there since the gallery was the Woodridge Library; and that was a long time ago).
However, it was a lot worse in the Brisbane CBD area where people were caught unawares; and some ended up in hospital with breathing difficulties. And our massive dust storm made the World News.
But the outlook doesn't look good... we're in for another one; just not as bad as this one. In case you're wondering where all that top soil disappeared to and where it came from? It came from South Australia and ended up in New Caledonia and the North Island of New Zealand.

(The photo of Brisbane CBD is of Mary Street. Photo courtesy of João Paulo Horta.)