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Dust storm from Syria immerses Turkey in orange cloud
Dust storm from Syria immerses Turkey in orange cloud
A cloud of reddish dust from Syrian deserts, which has been hampering life in eastern Turkish towns for the last couple of days, has been moving toward the country’s west, according to a statement made by local regional meteorological authorities. Click through for the story in photos...
Strong winds carrying dust from Syria have already reached the capital Ankara, darkening visibility and worsening air quality in the city.
“There is a movement of dust. Sand and dust carried away from the southeastern Anatolian region have come all the way to Ankara. We forecast that it will rain in the evening and dust will come down as mud,” said officials from the State Meteorological Service on Oct. 16 regarding the situation.
The dust-laden air has already been surrounding the southeastern Anatolian region for the last three days, causing the decrease in range of vision and mud-like rain.
Several cars in many southeastern provinces were seen covered in mud because of muddy rains.
The sky turned red and parents sent their children to school wearing masks.
An academic at Istanbul Technical University (İTÜ) told state-run Anadolu Agency that dust-laden air will continue to surround certain places until the end of the week “according to weather pattern forecasts.”
“Dust movement will be effective until the end of the week in certain places … Dust movement can cause a health problem for elderly, children and other sensitive fractions, especially regarding respiratory functions,” Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Toros from the İTÜ Meteorological Engineering Department was quoted as saying on Oct. 17.
Toros said the dust storms coming to Turkey came all the way from deserts located in the Arabian and African peninsulas as well as Iran.
“Desert dusts can lead to an increase in pollution levels in cities. Air quality index consists of six groups: Good, medium, sensitive, unhealthy, bad and dangerous. Nowadays, the air quality index in cities can reach the level of ‘bad’ or even ‘dangerous.’ Due to the dust movement, the air pollution has reached a dangerous level in the Central Anatolian, southeastern Anatolian and eastern Mediterranean regions,” Toros said, advising people living in these areas not to stay in open public areas “too long.”
“The elderly, children and pregnant women should not go outside and should use masks when outside. Asthma patients especially and those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPYD] should use their medicine regularly,” said Neslihan Taş, a doctor of respiratory diseases, warning people against the dust storms.
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