Dust from Africa covered almost the entire country: Apocalypse images in Attica and other areas (vid)

African dust has covered most of the country. The cocktail of dust and mud rain looks set to continue for two more 24 hours.

The dust from Africa has “covered” almost the entire country with “apocalyptic images in most places.

In Attica the Acropolis was “hidden”, in Thessaloniki the mud rain has made its appearance since dawn.

The sky of Athens turned red, while the atmosphere is stifling.

The rain that started early in the morning in Thessaloniki combined with the cloud of African dust brought back a foggy landscape to the city.

The situation in the city of Kalamata is also suffocating, with images reminiscent of… Libya.

Record concentrations in Crete

Crete and the Peloponnese are particularly affected by the wave of dust transport from the Sahara, while the concentrations are also high in Attica, as the Research Director of the Athens Observatory, Kostas Lagouvardos, told protothema.gr. It is typical of the situation in Crete that yesterday, from 5.30 – 7.30 in the afternoon, concentrations of 300 micrograms of dust per cubic meter of air were recorded. Concentrations fell overnight to around 50 micrograms, and today after 2pm they began to rise rapidly. At 5pm, 430 micrograms were already being recorded and the trend continued to rise. “From the night it will start to leave mainland Greece and from tomorrow at noon it will clear the Peloponnese and Crete as well“, says Mr. Lagouvardos, noting that tomorrow this episode of African dust transport is expected to end.

Doctors draw attention

While the atmosphere is suffocating, doctors draw attention to people with already burdened histories.
“Clearly, the presence of increased dust particles causes various problems both in the respiratory and cardiovascular in the sense that it stimulates the development of inflammation in systems that are already suffering, resulting in flare-ups”, said Sofia Pourikis, pulmonologist and intensivist of the ICU ” Salvation”.

It would be good, until the phenomenon goes away, for people with respiratory and cardiovascular problems to limit their movements.

“At this stage, people who have some chronic problems should be careful. We mean that they should avoid being outdoors, especially during the day, and stay indoors as much as possible,” added Ms. Pouriki.
And if the dust clears for a while, it looks like it will be back starting next week.
The African dust will subside from Thursday, but for two more days people dealing with underlying illnesses should be extra careful.