haze-ardous!

This is terrible! People have deserted the streets, schools have closed, and the API in certain areas have now reached the 500 mark! There are rumors that the government may declare "darurat" or an emergency, and I don't know what they can do except close all schools and offices until further notice. In fact, schools have already been closed! We're sending some help to Indonesia to help put out the forest fires, but some parties say that this haze may last until October! *shocking* If you have trouble imagining what this is like, think about being trapped in a burning house, except you are safely in the basement inhaling all the smoke. The entire Klang Valley plus a few other states are in this situation. I can hardly go outside without smelling the fire-burning smoke smell, and my eyes start smarting. Heck, it's even hazy on the INDOORS (and all the doors are closed!) It's been like this for over a week now, and it's only worsening.

Update: The government just declared "darurat" or emergency in Port Klang and Kuala Selangor, both areas have breached the 500-mark API (air pollution index). All offices and schools are closed, except for clinics, restaurants, grocery stores and pharmacies.

News and pictures courtesy of The Star:

PETALING JAYA: It is confirmed – our air is hazardous and in more places than earlier thought.

The people wanted the Air Pollution Index (API) released and the Government did so on the order from the Cabinet.

The figures showed that at noon, places like Port Klang, Shah Alam and Kuala Selangor were hazardous at a level of over 301 on the API while Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Gombak, Putrajaya and Seremban were very unhealthy at between 200 and 300.

By evening the levels rose even higher with the air quality in Petaling Jaya and Putrajaya also reaching hazardous levels as the API passed the 301 mark.

Many activities came to a halt because of the deteriorating air quality caused by the fires in Sumatra, where there were 542 hotspots as of yesterday.

Schools in Kuala Selangor and the Klang district in Selangor have been ordered to suspend classes for the next two days.

Following suit was a directive to close all 200 schools in Kuala Lumpur for the week.

A view of the Kuala Lumpur city centre from the 42nd floor of the Petronas Twin Towers. - Picture courtesy of Chua Kuan Yong











An empty road disapppears into the haze in Port Klang, which recorded an Air Polutant Index reading of 410 at noon Wednesday. - Picture courtesy of Alex Ng










An area of The Mines Resort City is transformed into a smokey wonderland by the haze. - Picture courtesy of Zafrul Hisham Abdul Shukor