MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA — Four people died on Monday night and hundreds more were hospitalized after a thunderstorm triggered massive asthma flare-ups in Melbourne.
A storm that raged through the city shortly before 6 p.m. brought with it extreme levels of rye grass pollen — a rare phenomenon known as thunderstorm asthma, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
Whole pollen fragments typically released on hot, windy days are usually large enough to be trapped by nose hairs before they can get into the airways.
But sudden weather changes can cause the larger pollen fragments to be swept up into storm clouds, where they absorb moisture and explode into thousands of tiny particles.
The allergens are carried back to the ground and easily dispersed by the wind over long distances.
When inhaled, they can trigger attacks in those who suffer from asthma or pollen allergies, though even non-sufferers can struggle to breathe.
Victims Hope Carnevali, Omar Moujalled, Clarence Leo, and Apollo Papadopoulos all died after suffering horrific asthma attacks, while 8 more people were in intensive care, according to the Herald Sun.
Experts said there is no way to predict the phenomenon, since storms on high pollen count days don’t always result in thunderstorm asthma.
