REMEMBER WHEN

Thursday September 24, 2009

THE dust “bomb” that forced planes out of the sky and caused blackouts across the Gold Coast could have filled more than 11 Robina stadiums with South Australian dirt.

The freak storm event forced workers off the job with fears that air pollution levels, which pushed 1500 times above normal readings, could have been fatal.

As the skies clear this morning and the clean-up began, Energex crews were on standby to repair fallen powerlines from Coolangatta to Coomera.

More than 550 homes were in the dark after powerlines came down in Currumbin Valley, Mermaid Waters, Merrimac, Robina and Coomera.

‘‘I will say with these windy conditions continuing we’ll see more outages during the day,’’ said an Energex spokesman.

The sheer amount of dirt, which would exceed the weight of 300 Sydney Harbour bridges, forced tourists and the elderly to don face masks.

Car wash companies will today enjoy a massive spike in business but airlines Jetstar, Virgin Blue and Tiger Airways are already counting the costs after being forced to cancel dozens of flights due to lack of visibility.

Inbound flights were diverted to the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane airports.

In Surfers Paradise, the Q-Deck level of the Q1 was shut at 12.30pm after witnesses described the view as though they were “floating in the clouds”.

In the Gold Coast Hinterland, it was near impossible to see the sun, with reports of a “blue moon”.