MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA — Four people died on Monday night and hundreds more were hospitalized after a thunderstorm triggered massive asthma flare-ups in Melbourne. <br /> <br />A storm that raged through the city shortly before 6 p.m. brought with it extreme levels of rye grass pollen — a rare phenomenon known as thunderstorm asthma, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. <br /> <br />Whole pollen fragments typically released on hot, windy days are usually large enough to be trapped by nose hairs before they can get into the airways. <br /> <br />But sudden weather changes can cause the larger pollen fragments to be swept up into storm clouds, where they absorb moisture and explode into thousands of tiny particles. <br />The allergens are carried back to the ground and easily dispersed by the wind over long distances. <br /> <br />When inhaled, they can trigger attacks in those who suffer from asthma or pollen allergies, though even non-sufferers can struggle to breathe. <br /> <br />Victims Hope Carnevali, Omar Moujalled, Clarence Leo, and Apollo Papadopoulos all died after suffering horrific asthma attacks, while 8 more people were in intensive care, according to the Herald Sun. <br /> <br />Experts said there is no way to predict the phenomenon, since storms on high pollen count days don’t always result in thunderstorm asthma.
