Australia’s ‘Thunderstorm Asthma: What Caused This Phenomenon, Tragic Effects To The People Of The Land Down Under; Could Occur Anywhere In The World

By Lester Mondragon - 23 Nov '16 18:35PM

The "Thunderstorm Asthma" Phenomenon happened in the City of Melbourne last November 21, 2016 as the occurrence swept across the city bringing to four persons killed in its wake. The asthma outbreak caused breathing difficulties amidst the population the storm swept into, according to The Telegraph.

The cause of the "Thunderstorm Asthma" was immediately identified as high level of allergens were whipped up by heavy downpour and gusty winds causing people to abnormally hyperventilate. Seriously affected are those with existing conditions of Asthma. Healthy people also succumb to this tragedy. Several People without asthma were inflicted with hay fever and pollen allergies.

The magnitude of the "Thunderstorm Asthma" was so vast that the Emergency hotlines received to more or less 2,000 phone calls for ambulance requests. A lot of the populace said that they had not a hint of asthma since childhood but suffered asthmatic attacks during the incident.

One of the casualties of the "Thunderstorm Asthma was Hope Carnevali, a 20 year old law student who died while waiting for an ambulance for twenty minutes. She fell on her front lawn.

Omar Moujalled is an 18 year old high school student, succumb to this tragic incident while on surgery. He was days away from his secondary level graduation.

The third victim was Apollo Papadopoulos, who paramedics spent an hour reviving him.

Clarence Leo was the fourth who lost his life. He is the owner of a security company, from an article of Sky News.

A major disaster placed Melbourne with the "Thunderstorm Asthma" in tow, in a state of calamity. The declaration was due to the casualties it had and the number of patients that were hospitalized that were respiratory related problems. The last time this type of calamity struck was as severe in 2011.

"Thunderstorm Asthma" had occurrences in London, Birmingham, and Naples, as reported by the Evening Standard.