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(By Britt Ditterich - Bond University journalism student)
The storm, which swept Australia’s eastern coast, hit the Gold Coast around mid-day last Wednesday leaving a dusty haze in its wake.
Media outlets across the Coast reported traffic bedlam and construction site closures due to low visibility.
Locally, construction within the Varsity Lakes area was not halted but workers were on high-alert to take extra caution.
Consutruction worker John Healy was working on Varsity Lakes’ development, Park Lake, when the storm hit.
“Whenever there are high winds we have to be extra cautious with equipment because we mightn't be able to hear what's going on around us or instructions we are being given,” he said.
“I had never seen a dust storm like it so I wore a dust-mask because I’m an asthmatic but it was purely precautionary.”
While the dust has since settled, Varsity Lakes residents have been busy cleaning in the aftermath.
Resident Tom Inglis said when it came to cleaning, he learned the hard way - “I started wiping down all surfaces the night after it [the storm] but it was just useless,” he said.
“Dust just kept turning up because the wind was still strong so by the next day it was hard to tell where I had cleaned and where I hadn’t.”
The Australian Bereau of Meterology reported the dust storm as the worst to hit metropolitan Queesnland in almost 70 years.
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