Rains have been pouring into communities since Thursday, but a major dam overflow caused a crisis in parts of the east bank on Saturday, causing swelling in the rivers and causing flash floods.
On Monday, New South Wales (NSW) Premier Gladys Barrageklian announced that about 18,000 people had been evacuated from flood-prone areas of the state, and locals showed on social media that thousands of animals were also moving.
Matt Lovefoss is posting Facebook updates, including photos above, from his family’s farm in Kinchela Creek.
“All you can see is that the spiders are trying to beat the floodwaters,” he wrote in the caption.
Lavanfos grew up on a farm and told CNN that he experienced similar floods in March 2001 and March 2013. On both occasions the spiders were pushed home from the flood waters, which is the highest point of the property.
“It’s still raining here and the floodwaters are still rising, the water is coming closer to our homes,” Lavanfos said. “In the morning it should be inside and the spiders will be around the house.”
However, Lavanfos plans to put it in his two-story home.
He said, ‘My family lives here forever, I grew up here and we feel safe here.’
Lavanfos added that spiders do not resort to water from animals alone.
“The trees are full of snakes,” he said. “If you take the boat out on a paddock, it tries to get something similar, dry, with spiders.”
It sounds like the stuff of dreams for some, but Lovefoss is vague.
“I grew up here on a farm so I’ve always been around snakes, spiders and all the other animals so they don’t bother me and usually we don’t cross roads often but when the floods come they have to find them somewhere. He said.
“Many spiders from the floodwaters,” she wrote, a video of hundreds of arcanids crawling on what looks like a garage door.
“They will also be on your feet to seek refuge,” the statement said.
Wet weather is set to continue, and Berejikalia predicts more people will be evacuated.
“The situation is evolving, heavy rains will continue and we are now seeing warnings issued for weather warnings for Ilawara and the South Coast,” he said.
He added, “I don’t know of a time in the history of our state where weather conditions have been in such rapid succession in the midst of an epidemic.” So this is a challenging time for New South Wales, but I think we have also shown the ability to be resilient.
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