A “plague” of the world’s most venomous spiders could swarm Sydney after torrential rain and flooding, the Australian Reptile Park said on Wednesday, warning that the deadly arachnids could seek refuge in homes as they escape the deluge.
Relentless downpours have caused vast flooding in New South Wales state, with parts of suburban northwest Sydney still under water.
Residents welcomed sunshine on Wednesday after days of rainfall, only to receive an “urgent warning” to brace for an influx of the deadly funnel-web spider, which is endemic to the Sydney region.
“The upcoming warm weather and high levels of humidity is the perfect storm for a funnel-web spider BOOM in coming days,” park director Tim Faulkner said in a statement.
“With the incredible flooding that we’ve experienced across the Greater Sydney area, they have been forced out of their habitat and are seeking refuge in dryer areas,” he added. “Unfortunately, this could mean that they’ll be finding their way into residential homes very shortly.”
Images of thousands of spiders escaping floodwaters have already gone viral on social media in recent days, terrifying arachnophobes as masses of the eight-legged creatures swarmed up fences and buildings.
Sydney funnel-webs are widely feared for their notoriously toxic and fast-acting venom, with 13 recorded deaths from bites.
However, no one is believed to have died since an anti-venom programme was introduced in the early 1980s.
The Australian Reptile Park – which supplies life-saving antivenom – has encouraged people who “feel safe enough to do so” to catch and deliver wandering funnel-web spiders to designated collection facilities.
Evacuation Orders
Australian authorities on Wednesday issued fresh flood evacuation orders for parts of the east coast and warned that water levels would keep rising in some areas, even as Sydney woke up to clear skies.
Wild weather systems have drenched the country’s east, prompting tens of thousands of evacuations, especially in the hardest hit state of New South Wales (NSW) where dams continue to overflow and rivers bulge.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said 6,000 more people were evacuated in the last 24 hours and that new evacuation orders had been issued for residents in Sydney’s western regions to move to safe zones.
“What we still have to be aware of is the fact that thousands and thousands of people are still on evacuation warnings, that the rivers will continue to swell, that catchments will continue to experience flows of water not seen in 50 years and in some places 100 years,” Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney.
No deaths linked to the floods have been reported but the destruction is far-reaching and more than 40,000 people in the state have been evacuated so far. The national insurance council said it was too early to estimate the financial cost of the damage.
Homes have been submerged, livestock swept away and crops drowned on a large scale. There have also been many animal rescues, with water craft used to move dogs, cattle, and even an emu, away from the floodwaters.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday that heavy-load helicopters would be prepared to transport food to supermarkets where supplies were running short.
Officials said the Warragamba Dam, the major water supply for Sydney, would continue to spill over the next several days, although at a slowing rate.
“We are seeing a reduction and given the fact that rains have passed and inflows declining we anticipate that spill should cease in the coming days,” Water NSW spokesman Tony Webber said.
Forecasters said the weather system will shift to the island state of Tasmania on Wednesday, bringing heavy rains and localised flooding.
Several hundred Australian Defence Force personnel would be sent to flood-affected areas in the country’s east over the next few days to help in the recovery, Australia’s Emergency Management minister David Littleproud said on Wednesday.
“Their job will be out there cleaning up, making sure that we get rid of the debris, having boots on the ground.”
This article was first featured on 24 March, 2021 on South China Morning Post.
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