The dust will last a bit but we're also expecting those winds to pick up as well.' Havoc in the Hunter Gale force winds of up to 100kph hit the Hunter region before moving through Sydney early this morning. 'We've had reports of low visibility up out as far up as Moree, Dubbo, Canberra's got some raised dust in the area and Wollongong, so it's very widespread.' 'Pretty widespread'Д«ureau of Meteorology spokeswoman Jane Golding said dust had settled on much of the state, including Sydney. Most came from Crookwell, north of Canberra, where hail the size of cricket balls has fallen and roofs have been damaged. The SES had 175 calls for help overnight. More than 50 calls were made from Sydney, 50 from the state's west, 23 from the north and 12 from southern regions. The ambulance service has received around 140 calls from people having breathing difficulties because of the dust, since the storms began. 'The dust simulates smoke so the fire alarm goes off.' 'The dust actuates in some of the electrical componentry and also some of these alarms are actually particle alarms that go off with the particles inside the smoke. 'This is certainly an extraordinary event for us,' he said. Supreintendent Warwick Kidd says crews in Sydney have had more than 500 call-outs this morning. The dust storm is also creating work for the fire brigade, with a huge amount of false alarms triggered by the dust The wipers are barely able to cope with all the mud.' Calls for help 'I have a green car and it's now an orange car. 'It's almost raining mud,' he told ABC Local Radio. Steve, who is driving to Tamworth, says rain is making conditions even more treacherous. Flights into Sydney have been diverted to Brisbane and Melbourne. Sydney Ferries cancelled its services earlier but they are now set to resume. Meanwhile, schools are still open and parents are being told to send their children to school unless they have asthma or other breathing problems. The colour was a sort of yellowy-brown.' Schools open 'I remember I walked to my aunt's place and you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Others have commented on how birds are struggling to cope with the haze, with some 'falling out of the sky'.ДЄnother said: 'I went out for a ride on my bicycle and I ended up looking like a red panda.'Д¬aller Mary spoke about a dust storm she saw in 1939: 'I was 13 years of age and I lived in Leichhardt,' she said. And our cat's gone missing.'ДЄnother listener says her lakeside vista has been replaced by a desert view. There are baby birds dead in our backyard. Mick told ABC Online: 'In Sydney's south-western suburbs I've just woken up to a glowing red window! Thought it was Armageddon! Either that or South Korea had nuked us!'ДЄnother ABC Online contributor wrote in: 'Red. 'It did feel like Armageddon because when I was in the kitchen looking out the skylight, there was this red, red glow coming through,' she said. Karen from Dulwich Hill, in Sydney's inner west, says she woke up to find the red dust had covered her floors and birds had been blown out of their nests. He says children with health problems, as well as older adults and pregnant women, should also take precautions and people should avoid heavy exercise. The bureau has issued a severe weather warning for damaging winds in Sydney and other parts of NSW, with a gale warning issued for Sydney closed waters.Д®nvironmental Health director Dr Wayne Smith says people in poor health, especially those with asthma and heart and lung disease should remain indoors. The dust reduced visibility across the city and large parts of the state, with callers to ABC Radio saying the scene looked like something from the end of the world.

'The winds at times during the morning will average 65kph, which is gale force, with some stronger squally gusts up to about 90-100kph.' 'The weather system that generated the dust yesterday is associated with gale force winds and the area which is most likely to be affected today is the Wollongong-Greater Sydney region and the Hunter Valley-Newcastle area. 'The winds won't drop off until later today and when they do we think that the dust haze will start to clear,' he said.

Senior forecaster Barry Hanstrum says more high winds are on the way and could cause more damage. This morning the weather bureau said the dust cloud was expected to hang around until late afternoon. The huge dust storm which has settled over the city and much of New South Wales was carried east overnight by gale-force winds of up to 100kph. Sydneysiders are being warned that a huge dust cloud will continue to affect the city through the day, after they woke to an eerie red dawn this morning.

Storm of sands wings of fire