Australia Engulfed by Once-in-a-Century Floods

The setup up steering so much rain into New South Wales is getting a fresh blast of moisture from the north, ensuring heavy rains continue. What’s worse, the area of rainfall is expanding and areas previously spared from the worst of the wild weather will now be in the target. The Bureau of Meteorology is calling for inland locations to receive up to a month of rain over the next 48 hours.

The agency is warning residents living in these inland parts of New South Wales that shifting rainfall patterns could create “life-threatening” conditions. Areas along the border with Queensland to the north will also see up to 7.9 inches (200 millimeters) of rainfall, and the agency has issued rainfall warnings for that state as well as the state of Victoria.

And, because, again, Australia can’t catch a break, there are spiders. The Guardian reported that residents of New South Wales have spotted droves of spiders and other insects fleeing en masse from the rising floodwaters. In some slightly better news than huge swarms of spiders, the rain has also ground coal exports in the region to a halt.