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Saturday, September 26, 2009

Second Dust Storm - Pics from Ayers Rock, Central Australia


A second dust storm and how it started. These pics, just in, taken at Ayers Rock Central Australia this morning. Not as bad as Wednesday's storm but it has already swept through Sydney and is heading north to Queensland.

19 comments:

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

Oh my - that is horrifying Alaine. The thickness and contours remind me of the clouds of ash and debris after the twin towers fell on 9/11.

Must be terrifying to find yourself in its path. And the clean-up - will probably take months to get rid of all the red grit.

What's our dear planet coming to?

steven said...

alaine - i am stunned to see this - it's not at all what i expected it would look like. that must be truly terrifying for all living things. how could you live through that? steven

alaine@éclectique said...

Hello Bonnie, luckily we're on the south-east corner of Australia and haven't been affected. It's headed north easterly both times.

alaine@éclectique said...

Steven, I really feel for the people who have copped it. These storms usually stay in the Centre but the wind has picked it up this last week and sent it to the cities.

Delwyn said...

Hi Alaine

I have just washed the house and decks and watered the plants but we have been advised to expect more du of ash and when I ran my hand over the surfboard lying outside it became covered in red gritty dust...

The sky was very hazy last night but clearer today so we shall see what eventuates...

Happy days

alaine@éclectique said...

Delwyn, how awful. I'm praying that the wind doesn't change! We'd have red mud with all the rain we're getting; it's marvellous, I just love it. Rain, that is. We have little ponds everywhere.

karen said...

How eerie looking. It looks so other worldly. If the kids play set wasn't in the photo, you would think this was on another planet.

Susan said...

Oh my, that is scary, scary stuff! I can't imagine having to endure that...it makes me smother just to look at the pictures. Can it be life-threatening? Or just a mess to clean up? I would imagine it would be bad on the ranches with the cattle and sheep.

Anonymous said...

I saw things like in in the desert in Arizona but the color was gray. It rolled in like this and covered everything. Somehow the dust got in and around doors and windows and everything in the houses were covered with gritty dust. It was a nightmare for restaurants and bars with all the bottles and glasses covered too.

Your photographs are absolutely stunning. I have never seen the storms this large and the bright green on one side and I can imagine the color of the leaves after it passed.

I read on your sidebar about not accepting tags or awards. I gave that up back in 2005 when it first began and thought "who is benefiting from this scam." And I stopped accepting it then. I used to trace them back to the originator but after a while gave that up. It is all nonsense to me.

I hope you like Memoirs of a Geisha. I did.

Tracy said...

Heavens, Alaine...what a storm! These pictures are rather haunting...it's strange, errie and hypnotizingly interesting at the same time. The reddish dust that must be everywhere! Must say too, that I love your new banner photo-glorious! :o) Happy weekend, my friend ((HUGS))

alaine@éclectique said...

Maggie & Susan, I should imagine those people in the first would have had to run like the devil up-wind pretty soon!

alaine@éclectique said...

Hello Abe, I must say that the photos are not mine; received in an email yesterday morning. It's a pity you couldn't click on them to get a larger pic.

I'm enjoying Memoirs of a Geisha but my trouble is that I fall asleep after 2 or 3 pages, so it's slow going! I only read the newspaper during the day.

alaine@éclectique said...

Hello Tracy, thanks, it's a nice shot and I'm looking forward to going back. Enjoy your weekend. Our Sunday is very wet, windy and cold!

Kathleen said...

What do the native peoples make of such a phenomenon? And how often does it happen?

alaine@éclectique said...

Hello Kathleen, I have no idea how often it happens in Central Australia but it rarely travels east to the cities. We live a long way south east from the Centre.

Tess Kincaid said...

Terrifying and magnificent at the same time.

alaine@éclectique said...

Willow, very thick and scary where it originated.

T. said...

These photos are jaw-dropping. Wow.

Ruthie Redden said...

Alaine - what incredible pictures! completely terrifying i should think to se that coming toward you! How fortunate that it headed away from you!