An orange blanket envelops Sydney as the worst dust storm in 70 years rages across western parts of New South Wales, Australia's most populous state. The dust cloud, which was more than 500 kilometers (310 miles) wide and 1,000 kilometers long, was driven from the drought-stricken center of the country by gale-force winds, the national Bureau of Meteorology said. Health authorities have reported a massive influx in the number of calls from asthma sufferers, many of whom have had to be hospitalized, and the state Fire Brigade reportedly experienced a 10-fold increase in its usual call rate.