Cobwebs blanket Gippsland town after floods
A creepy sight has taken over this Gippsland town, with millions of spiders emerging after flooding devastated the area.
A sea of cobwebs has blanketed a Gippsland town last week lashed by flooding.
In a phenomenon unwelcome to arachnophobes called ballooning, cooler weather conditions have seen spiders covering stretches of the Longford area in cloudlike cobwebs as they attempt to shelter themselves from wet conditions on the ground.
Museums Victoria senior insects curator Dr Ken Walker said “millions and millions” of spiders have created the airborne cobwebs following the onset of heavy rain and dropping temperatures in the area.
“People just don’t realise there are millions of them out there because they are normally down on the ground,” Dr Walker said.
Dr Walker said while ballooning lasted just a few days, it can often stretch across several kilometres of land, as well floating just as high into the sky.
“This can stretch over hundreds of kilometres and be blown up to 3kms in the air,” he said.
Dr Walker said ballooning was a temporary survival tactic that allowed the spiders to continue to hunt for food and house their young while the ground below dried out after the flooding.
“They let silk out and it floats up so they can get away from the sodden ground,” he said.
“If they were on the ground they would drown. It is a survival and dispersal technique.”
LONG WAIT FOR POWER FOR STORM-HIT VICTORIANS
About 20,000 homes could be waiting until Sunday for power to return in the aftermath of Victoria’s wild storms.
And almost 100 homes across the state are “unhabitable” as authorities continue to assess the damage.
Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said authorities had assessed 1195 homes following the June 9 storms.
He said 98 homes had been deemed unhabitable, while another 86 had been significantly damaged.
Mr Crisp said 20,000 homes across the state were still waiting to be reconnected, with the majority in the Dandenongs area.
“We know that is really really tough for those people that are still off power, but I really do have to acknowledge the work of the distribution businesses, when you consider the we had more than 300,000 homes off power (when the storm hit),” he said.
“I know there’s frustration, but there’s nothing short of absolute commitment from those businesses to get power on as soon as we can … there’s every chance those remaining homes will be on power by this coming Sunday.”
Authorities are also concerned a number of “killer trees” could fall in the Dandenongs, with the prospect of more windy and wet weather to hit the storm-ravaged region this week.
Winds of up to 50km/h are forecast in the area heading into the weekend.
Mr Crisp urged residents to stay up to date on the latest conditions and to download the VicEmergency app.
“We are not through this,” Mr Crisp said.
“There are so many trees that are likely to fall, and a lot of work has been done to assess those killer trees,” he said.
Emerald SES spokesman Ben Owen warned residents from Emerald through to Belgrave to be on alert, with several close to falling near roads and properties following the June 9s storm.
“As you move closer to Mt Dandenong, you see trees hanging in other trees, and obviously authorities are going to be looking at those and working out how to make them safe,” he said.
Acting Prime Minister Michael McCormack said government support — including counselling, debris removal and financial aid — was available Victorians in 37 local council areas affected by the flood disaster.
He said two lives had been lost “so very tragically”, and that as of Tuesday morning, 17,000 households remained without power and 11 communities were still cut off.
Mr McCormack told parliament that 20-30mm of rain were still expected in affected areas this week.
“Emergency services are working to ensure people remain safe,” he said.
“The disaster is not over when the rain stops or the water recedes.”
– Kiel Egging and Tom Minear
POWER FEARS OVER DAMAGED MINE
It comes as fears grow that another heavy downpour could flood a mine that fuels power for almost a quarter of the state.
Authorities are on high alert after cracks were discovered in the mine that fuels Yallourn Power Station, which provides 22 per cent of Victoria’s electricity.
Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio on Monday said flooding would “put the mine and certainly the power station in a debilitated state for many, many weeks, if not months”.
Energy Australia executive, Liz Westcott, on Tuesday said safety was the “highest priority”.
“The situation continues to be dynamic,” Ms Westcott said.
“A section of the mine has been evacuated, an exclusion zone has been established and independent geotechnical experts... are working on actions to help mitigate the risk of water flooding into the mine.”
Across the next seven days, Victoria should have enough energy through the national grid to avoid blackouts, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator.
But Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp warned more wet weather was expected towards the end of the week, with the possibility flooded areas could be hit again.
“Given we’ve already got extremely saturated ground, and we’ve already got flooding in some particular areas, there is a very real chance that we will move from minor to moderate, and even in some areas, moderate to major flooding,” he said.
It comes as it emerges 35 homes in the Dandenongs township of Kalorama were destroyed by fallen trees and 24,000 Victorian properties continued to go without power almost a week after horror storms lashed the state.
The home of Acting Premier James Merlino was among those hit by blackouts, with power expected to be restored to all but about 100 properties by the end of the week.
Emergency services declared at least 35 houses uninhabitable in Kalorama alone, meaning one in every 14 family homes there was destroyed during Wednesday’s gale-force winds.
Braeden Tairi, his wife, Bri, and parents were having dinner as the couple’s baby, Levi, slept when a 60m tree ploughed through their lounge room.
“Had we been sitting on the couch we’d all be dead,” Mr Tairi said. “It’s by God’s grace alone that we’re here to talk about it.”
The family tried to flee but giant trees strewn across the road prevented their escape.
They spent the night in their car, parked at the Mt Dandenong shopping strip.
“Kalorama basically was just like a bomb had gone off,” Mr Tairi said.
Their home of more than 2½ years will have to be demolished and rebuilt.
The Herald Sun believes Victorian authorities were speaking to the Defence Force about sending in soldiers to help clean up storm-ravaged towns.
More than 420 SES volunteers and fire services and contract staff were already working on roads in the Dandenong Ranges.
Authorities were also talking to their NSW counterparts about sending emergency crews to flood-stricken Gippsland.
The hardest-hit communities have lashed energy providers after many suffered a week without drinking water.
Pat Joyce, who has not had running water at her Loch home since last Tuesday, said her family were in a “desperate situation”.
“It is like we are living in the Dark Ages, I really don’t know what to do,” she said.
“We have had to throw out all of our food, I haven’t showered since Tuesday. It is not right that this power mob hasn’t fixed this problem.”
Mr Merlino said the storm was “truly devastating” and that he’d seen the damage first-hand in his own community and during a visit to Gippsland.
“This is a really challenging time for people in affected areas and I want to reassure them that everything is being done to keep them safe and ensure we get communities up and running again as quickly as possible,” he said.
Opposition Emergency Services spokesman Tim Smith said the government had not properly managed the crisis.
“The Andrews Labor government is more interested in forcing Victorians to wear masks outdoors while alone than getting the lights back on for so many hardworking families who have just endured Labor’s fourth lockdown,” he said.
More Coverage
Originally published as Cobwebs blanket Gippsland town after floods
Pic gallery: Mountain Cattlemen’s get-together at Omeo Valley
See all the action from the final day of the Mountain Cattlemen’s Association of Victoria get-together near Omeo.
Brumby catch a last minute casualty at MCAV get-together
Upper Murray pair Daryl Baines and Hayley Hinton won the Cattlemen’s Get-Together Challenge, but it wasn’t without controversy. See the details.