The rains flooded communities on Thursday, but parts of the east coast went into crisis on Saturday as a major dam overflowed, adding to swollen rivers and causing flash floods.
On Monday, New South Wales (NSW) Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian announced that almost 18,000 people had been evacuated from flood-prone areas of the state, and locals took to social media to show that thousands of animals were on the move.
Matt Lovenfosse posted updates on Facebook from his family farm in Kinchela Creek, including the photo above.
“All you can see is the spiders trying to beat the flood,” he wrote in the caption.
Lovenfosse grew up on the farm and told CNN that he had similar floods in March 2001 and March 2013. On both occasions the floodwaters pushed the spiders toward the house, which is the highest point of the property.
“It’s still raining here and the flood water is rising, the water is approaching our house,” Lovenfosse said. “The morning should be inside and the spiders will be everywhere in the house.”
However, Lovenfosse intends to remain seated in his two-story house.
“My family has lived here forever, I grew up here and we feel safe here,” he said.
Spiders are not the only animals seeking refuge in the water, Lovenfosse added.
“The trees are full of snakes,” he said. “If you take the boat over the paddock, they swim towards it trying to reach something dry, as well as the spiders.”
This may sound like a nightmare to some, but Lovenfosse is not bothered.
“I grew up here on the farm, so I was always around snakes, spiders and all the other animals, so that it wouldn’t bother me and we usually don’t cross too often, but when the flood comes, they have to find somewhere where it dries “You,” he said.
“So many SPIDERS in the floodwaters,” she wrote, alongside a video of hundreds of peanuts crawling over what look like garage doors.
“They will climb your legs to take shelter,” the legend reads.
The wet weather will continue, and Berejiklian predicts that more people may be evacuated.
“The situation is evolving, heavy rainfall will continue and now we see alerts issued for weather warnings for Illawarra and the south coast,” she said.
“I do not know any moment in the history of our state in which we had these extreme weather conditions in such a rapid succession in the midst of a pandemic,” she added. “So these are difficult times for New South Wales, but I think we have also shown our ability to be resilient.”