On the 23rd September 2009, Sydney Australia experienced an event that we had not experienced before, well, not in my lifetime.
![]()
On the 23rd of September 2009 I woke to something I had never seen before in my life. It scared me to say the least.
My alarm went off at it's normal time of 5:30am. A time when it's normally still dark at this time of year, with stars still visible. But on this day, things were not right. I woke to my alarm to find that our bedroom curtains were glowing a very bright red colour, with red light bleeding through the gaps around the edges.
After rubbing my eyes, thinking that I was still asleep, I looked again. Things were still very red. I jumped out of bed and threw the curtains open. What I saw, is what you see in the photo above.
Everything was bathed in a deep red light, the tree's were blowing violently, and plumes of dust blew sideways.
Immediately I grabbed my phone, and to my dismay I noticed that my phone said, "Limited Service" on it. I woke Amanda thinking a nuclear explosion had happened, or World War 3. When I threw the curtains open and looked around, I honestly expected to see the four horsemen riding down the road.
But as I started to wake more, I began thinking it might've been a firestorm.
I decided to look out the back, stupidly thinking/hoping that maybe it might be normal back there…
![]()
I ran to get my camera and capture the event, but was afraid to step outside still. After taking photos I ran to my computer to check what the hell was going on. Strange, here I am thinking the world is ending or I'm trapped in a firestorm, and instead of attempting to find out information I go and grab my camera.
![]()
Hoping that I could still access the internet, I opened Firefox. Nothing. There was no news anywhere about this ominous red environment that awaited outside my house.
What the hell was happening?
I posted of facebook, and awaited replies. What else is one to do these days when he thinks the outside world may not be around? Unlikely that one would be able to access the internet if the world was ending, but hey, it was 5:30am!
It turns out that what we were experiencing was a dust storm. The largest one Sydney's ever experienced.
Today, it appears we're experiencing the same thing over again. But not as large. Outside is currently more of a yellow colour, and I can see further than I could on that red Wednesday.
On the 23rd of September 2009 I woke to something I had never seen before in my life. It scared me to say the least.
My alarm went off at it's normal time of 5:30am. A time when it's normally still dark at this time of year, with stars still visible. But on this day, things were not right. I woke to my alarm to find that our bedroom curtains were glowing a very bright red colour, with red light bleeding through the gaps around the edges.
After rubbing my eyes, thinking that I was still asleep, I looked again. Things were still very red. I jumped out of bed and threw the curtains open. What I saw, is what you see in the photo above.
Everything was bathed in a deep red light, the tree's were blowing violently, and plumes of dust blew sideways.
Immediately I grabbed my phone, and to my dismay I noticed that my phone said, "Limited Service" on it. I woke Amanda thinking a nuclear explosion had happened, or World War 3. When I threw the curtains open and looked around, I honestly expected to see the four horsemen riding down the road.
But as I started to wake more, I began thinking it might've been a firestorm.
I decided to look out the back, stupidly thinking/hoping that maybe it might be normal back there…
I ran to get my camera and capture the event, but was afraid to step outside still. After taking photos I ran to my computer to check what the hell was going on. Strange, here I am thinking the world is ending or I'm trapped in a firestorm, and instead of attempting to find out information I go and grab my camera.
Hoping that I could still access the internet, I opened Firefox. Nothing. There was no news anywhere about this ominous red environment that awaited outside my house.
What the hell was happening?
I posted of facebook, and awaited replies. What else is one to do these days when he thinks the outside world may not be around? Unlikely that one would be able to access the internet if the world was ending, but hey, it was 5:30am!
It turns out that what we were experiencing was a dust storm. The largest one Sydney's ever experienced.
Today, it appears we're experiencing the same thing over again. But not as large. Outside is currently more of a yellow colour, and I can see further than I could on that red Wednesday.
