SYDNEY, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Victorian government announced a research package on Wednesday to better understand "freak" thunderstorm events such as the one that killed nine people in November.
An interim report into the thunderstorm asthma event that caused chaos across Victoria in November released on Wednesday found that limited public knowledge played a significant result in the carnage.
As many as 8,500 Victorians sought medical assistance in the days following the event, which was caused by a sudden change in weather that made pollen seeds burst into microscopic fragments which lodged themselves in victims' lungs causing severe allergic reactions with nine people dying.
The event was the busiest period for emergency calls in Victoria's history, with paramedics inundated by 1,900 calls in just five hours.
The report, carried out by the state's Inspector General for Emergency Management, found that emergency authorities acted accordingly during the event but there was a lack of previous experience of an event of this size.
The report also found there was little communication sharing between agencies.
In releasing the report Jill Hennessy, Victoria's Health Minister, announced a 750,000 U.S. dollar research package to better understand and predict thunderstorm asthma, as well as an expanded pollen-monitoring network.
"Our thoughts and condolences go out to the many families affected by this extraordinary event," Hennessy told reporters on Wednesday.
"We want to assure all Victorians that every lesson to be learnt will be learnt, and the right systems, resources and measures will be put in place so we can better prepare for, and respond to similar events like this in the future.
"No one in the world has had an event like this.
"More research and expanded pollen monitoring will make sure we have the best information and science to better predict thunderstorm asthma events ahead of this year's pollen season."
