Floods and invasion of insects latest in long list of plagues to beset New South Wales
Australians in New South Wales have endured a long drought, a horror summer of bushfires and Covid-19 during the past two years.
Now, the heaviest flooding in 60 years has not only displaced thousands and swept away homes, but also sent droves of insects and animals running for higher ground.
According to the country’s Bureau of Meteorology, “three to four months’ worth of rain” fell in three or four days between Thursday and Monday.
In Comboyne, just south of Port Macquarie, 889 millimetres fell between 9am on Thursday and 9am on Monday.
More than 20,000 people have been evacuated in Sydney and the central North Coast as the worst flooding in the region in 60 years destroyed homes and covered much of the state with water.
Prof Thomas Wernberg of the University of Western Australia told The National that there was “increasing evidence that climate change is having an impact” on weather cycles.
“All projections show these events are increasing in intensity and frequency, and so are associated extreme events such as marine heatwaves, storms and floods,” he said.
On what would have been their wedding day, Sarah Soars and Joshua Edge, from Taree, New South Wales, watched in disbelief as the three-bedroom home they rent, their belongings and their pets were taken by raging floodwaters on Saturday.
The community rallied around the pair, finding them a new place to live and raising A$100,000 ($76,600) to replace lost belongings.
The floods led to strange scenes as animals and insects of all varieties tried to escape the rising floodwaters.
Residents described a “blanket” of spiders covering walls and fences and locals reported seeing snakes climbing trees.
Shenae Varley told Guardian Australia that she saw “skinks [lizards ranging from 35-50 cm], ants, basically every insect, crickets – all just trying to get away from the floodwaters” at the Penrith weir in western Sydney.
“My husband videoed it, because I was not going close to it. When he was standing still he had spiders climbing up his legs. A skink used him as a pole to get away from the water,” she said.
Prof Dieter Hochuli, the head of Sydney University’s integrative ecology group, told the ABC that there was a “vibrant ecosystem happening all the time … under our noses”.
“What happens with the floods is all these animals that spend their lives cryptically on the ground can’t live there any more,” he said.
“Just like people, they are trying to get to higher ground during a flood.”
People worked quickly to help friends and neighbours escape rising water.
In one small New South Wales town, a group of residents carried every instrument out of a music store as it became swamped.
The deluge eased in Sydney yesterday. But the Bureau of Meteorology’s Agata Imielska said: “Even though we will have that blue sky and sunshine returning, flooding will continue and the flood risk will continue. We also have warnings for damaging winds.”
Ms Imielska said “dangerous conditions” continued and the central North Coast was still being pummelled by heavy rainfall.
The area has already received more than 1,000mm of rainfall in less than a week, which Ms Imielska said was two thirds of annual rainfall for the region. The North West Slopes region – including Tamworth, Gunnedah and Moree – had four months’ worth of rain in 24 hours, the bureau said.
On top of the flooding and the escaping insects, parts of New South Wales and southern Queensland have been dealing with swarms of mice that have cost local businesses tens of thousands of dollars.
The recent wet season brought a bumper crop harvest, leading to an explosion in the population.
Naav Singh, who runs a family owned supermarket in Gulargambone in New South Wales, said the mice plague had cost the business A$30,000 so far.