The Big Wobble : Rare phenomenon "thunderstorm asthma” claims 6 lives in Australia as deaths from "Strange lightning storms" increase around the globe in 2016

Photo Bureau of Meteorology

2016 Year of the lightning strike!
Lightning strikes on a 12 to 24% increase: Phenomenon appears to be worsening with climate change.
6 deaths from rare phenomenon “ thunderstorm asthma” which struck Melbourne this week
August at least 322 wild reindeer were killed by lightning in Norway
Huge bush fires in US and Canada blamed on "Strange lightning storms" lightning from cloudless skies
In August a single bolt of lightning struck a tree in Texas killing 19 cows.
In June at least 79 died as lightning struck the India
An unprecedented number of people struck by lightning this year in Europe.
In July a further 40 people were killed and 35 others injured in India.
In July a new world record was set when 10,000 lightning flashes lit up Hong Kong's night sky over the weekend

A recent rare phenomenon “ thunderstorm asthma” which struck Melbourne this week has now claimed a further 4 lives bringing the total to 6, with 3 others in a serious condition in hospital.

Since the storm last Monday around 10,000 people have been treated in hospital.

At the peak of the storm on Monday Ambulance Victoria was flooded with more than 1900 calls in a five hour period – more than six times their usual workload, Ambulance Victoria ran out of ambulances and had to call in police officers, firefighters, non-emergency patient vehicles and field doctors trained for disasters to help with transporting acutely ill patients to hospital.

The huge numbers of casualties brought the hospitals to breaking point.

Some victims said they blacked out and woke up in hospital.

Below a diagram explaining thunderstorm asthma.

Photo International Business Times

Thunderstorm asthma was first described in 1992 in Melbourne, following two epidemics in November 1987 and November 1989.

Another event occurred in 2011 and the fourth on Monday night.

Epidemics of thunderstorm asthma have also been described in Wagga Wagga, Naples, Birmingham and London.

2016 the year of "strange lightning" hitting the headlines around the world and not picked up by the Main Stream Media

2016 has been a record breaking year for lightning around the globe, with lightning strikes on a 12 to 24% increase: Phenomenon appears to be worsening with climate change.

This summer reports of "Strange lightning storms" lightning from cloudless skies and "strange lightning storms" have been blamed for causing widespread bush fires in the US and Canada.

In August a single bolt of lightning struck a tree in Texas killing 19 cows.

Also in August at least 322 wild reindeer were killed by lightning in Norway: 2016 has seen a massive increase in death by lightning

In June at least 79 died as lightning struck the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh.

And in Europe more than a hundred people were struck by lightning, an unprecedented number.

In July 40 people were killed and 35 others injured due to lightning strikes in Odisha, India.

Again in July a new world record was set when 10,000 lightning flashes lit up Hong Kong's night sky over one weekend.
According to the South China Morning Post, the Hong Kong Observatory said the number of strikes was "very high" for a summer storm.
It reportedly surpassed the July 2005 24-hour record of 9966 strikes.

10,000 lightning flashes lit up Hong Kong's night sky