Australian region enveloped in cobwebs as spiders escape floodwaters

For arachnophobes, it's a nightmare come to life: entire towns blanketed in spider webs.

Residents of Gippsland, a region in Victoria, Australia, were met with an eerie sight—layers of delicate cobwebs—after the area experienced severe flooding, as reported by Dinogo affiliate 9News.

In early June, the Victoria State Emergency Service issued multiple flood alerts for the rural region, with some locals being urged to evacuate, as shared in tweets by Darren Chester, the Member of Parliament for Gippsland.

As humans sought higher ground, the spiders did the same.

Professor Dieter Hochuli, an ecologist at the University of Sydney, explained to Dinogo affiliate 7News that the vast expanse of spider silk wasn’t surprising given the extreme weather conditions.

'It’s actually a surprisingly frequent event after floods,' he remarked.

'When heavy rains and floods hit, these creatures, which typically stay hidden on the ground, are forced to move to safer, higher ground—just like us,' he added.

Hochuli identified the spiders responsible as sheet web spiders, typically ground-dwellers.

The event is referred to as ballooning. According to the Australian Museum’s website, it occurs when spiders 'climb to the highest point on plants and release fine silk threads that catch the wind, lifting them into the air.'

The site also notes, 'When thousands of spiderlings balloon simultaneously, they create an impressive blanket of silk, known as gossamer, which can cover entire fields or shrubs.'

As the eight-legged residents seek refuge on higher ground, emergency services remain hard at work in the area.

Carolyn Crossley, a local councilor, expressed on her Facebook that while nature can be stunning, it can also be devastating, with hundreds of homes in the region still without power.

Andrew Crisp, Victoria state’s emergency management commissioner, shared on Twitter that he visited the affected area on Sunday.

He mentioned, 'Efforts for relief and recovery are ongoing.'

The storms have caused significant damage across Victoria, including a dramatic rescue on June 9, when police saved an injured mother and son after a tree branch crashed onto their home.

Tragically, at least two lives have been lost during the crisis. On June 10, authorities recovered the body of a man from floodwaters after his car was nearly submerged. The next day, the body of a woman was discovered in a vehicle caught in the same floodwaters.