Panicked Melbourne residents flooded emergency services with calls after a freak storm sent the pollen count soaring. Thousands were hospitalized with cardiac and chest pain.
Advertisement
Six people remain in intensive care with four of them in a critical condition after an extraordinary thunderstorm triggered thousands of asthma cases in Melbourne, Australia, Victorian state health authorities told local media on Saturday. In all, five people have already died and 20 others remain hospitalized for conditions related to the storm.
Hospitals have treated more than 8,500 people since the storm, in which heavy rain caused pollen to swell up and explode, sending smaller particles into the air.
The latest victim, reported to be in her 40s, died on Friday night. The other four victims ranged from 18 to 35.
A hospital statement said the latest death was "a result of thunderstorm asthma which led to other medical complications."
The storm was described as a health emergency of "unprecedented scale" by the Department of Health.
Heavy rain and winds on Monday coincided with the peak of spring in the southern Australian state. The conditions allowed rye grass pollen to absorb moisture and burst into smaller particles that sent the pollen count soaring.
"When we've had people calling for ambulances - one call every four-and-a-half seconds at the peak - it was like having 150 bombs going off right across a particular part of metropolitan Melbourne," state Health Minister Jill Hennessy told public broadcaster ABC on Tuesday.
"Of the 8,500 people that were presenting to emergency departments on Monday and Tuesday, those with cardiac and chest pain featured very, very prominently."
Melbourne particularly susceptible
The rare phenomenon affects people whose asthma is triggered by rye grass or people who suffer from hay fever, Asthma Foundation of Victoria chief Robin Ould said.
"When rye grass pollen becomes wet through humidity or water, it breaks up into a lot of small pieces and those small pieces can get past the nasal passage into the lungs. Normally rye grass would be trapped in the nasal passage," Ould told the AFP news agency.
"When it gets into the lungs, the allergens that are there cause an asthma attack... the small bronchial tubes become inflamed, they fill with mucus and the muscles around them become tight and people can't exchange their air."
He said Melbourne was particularly susceptible to "thunderstorm asthma" events as rye grass is abundant in parks and farmlands around the state capital.
About 10 percent of Australians suffer from asthma, according to Asthma Australia. The condition pushes the immune system in the airways into overdrive, triggering wheezing, coughing and restricted breathing.
The sky on fire: thunder and lightning
Summer, sun - thunderstorms: Extreme heat is often followed by a storm, as we can see in Germany at the moment. We take a look at the phenomena of thunder and lightning.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Short circuits in the sky
Like fiery veins flashing across the sky. Lightning flashes and cracks when energy is set free in a kind of short circuit: one lightning bolt can be as strong as 500 million volts. In Germany alone, there are more than two million flashes of lightning each year. But that’s no reason to panic: most of them don’t hit the ground, they just move from cloud to cloud.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Struck by lightning
The man in this photo won’t be struck by lightning because his metal suit works as a lightning deflector. The physical principle behind the suit is called the 'Faraday cage'. The dangerous electrical charge is deflected by the metal. That’s why planes and cars are good protection against lightning bolts.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Brought back down to earth
Lightning bolts always strike the highest point. That’s why there are hardly any churches or high-rise buildings without a lightning rod. The metal channels the lightning to the ground. The lightning rod was invented in 1752 by none other than Benjamin Franklin, one of America’s founding fathers.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
A destructive natural phenomenon
Lightning bolts caused 280 million euros worth of damage for German insurance companies in 2013. Most of the damage was not caused by direct lightning strikes but by electrical surges. This happens when lightning strikes nearby and then moves through the power supply network to electrical devices in homes. A word of advice: pull the plug on electrical devices before a thunderstorm.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
The myth of ball lightning
This isn't actually ball lightning. But it really does exist! It hasn’t been pictured in nature yet, but the colored, ball-shaped light phenomenon isn't just a figment of the imagination. Scientists have proved its existence by creating artificial ball lightning.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Between fascination and fear
Some find it romantic outside when thunder rumbles and lighting cracks across the sky during summer. People have always been fascinated by the celestial spectacle. But if you’re breaking into a sweat just at the thought of thunderstorms, then you’re suffering from astraphobia. That’s the name given to the extreme anxiety of thunder and lightning.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Inspiration for artists
Artists like the 'Lords of Lightning' use the spectacular beauty of lightning bolts for their stage shows. The Land Art icon, Walter De Maria also uses the esthetics of lightning and the elemental force of storms: his 'Lightning Field' in New Mexico - a huge field filled with steel rods - turns into a living installation when it's struck by lightning.
