Flood-hit communities in NSW are now plagued by swarms of mosquitoes, making for some truly biblical imagery.
It was expected many Australians would see an increase in mosquitoes, thanks to relentless rainfall.
Last month, Associate Professor Cameron Webb, a mosquito expert at NSW Pathology, told The New Daily mosquitoes need warmth and water to thrive and as we head into the summer months, there’s plenty of both to go around.
In a particularly shocking video, which has been aired all over the world, mosquitoes swarmed outside a home in Central West NSW.
Nicole Fragar, a 26-year-old farmer and wool classer, filmed mosquitoes swarming her family’s farmhouse in an area cut off by the floods.
It appears that there are thousands of mozzies buzzing around the verandah.
Ms Fragar told the ABC plagues of bugs after storms were not uncommon around her area, but she was shocked after realising they were mosquitoes.
The property is 60 kilometres west of Tottenham; Ms Fragar’s father, Jeff, has been in the area for 30 years, but he has never seen anything like it.
“If you walk outside at dusk, the air is humming,” Mr Fragar told the ABC.
“I was wearing a cap, [they] … bit me through the cap, through my hair and I could feel [them] in my skull — they are monstrous.”
Repellents in demand
The situation is so bad in flood-hit areas that some towns are either restocking mosquito repellents daily, or running out of stock.
Deniliquin, near the NSW-Victoria border, is struggling to keep up with the demand, The Guardian reported.
Izzy Hobson, a pharmacy technician, said people in the town are desperate to get their hands on anything to keep the mosquitoes away.
Hawie Asfha, owner of the Eric Sim Pharmacy in Deniliquin, told The Guardian it has been a struggle to get stock in.
Repellent is key to keeping mosquitoes at bay, but for it to be effective, you need to use as much as you would sunscreen, so rationing isn’t an option.
The plague of mozzies is particularly concerning given Japanese encephalitis has arrived in Australia, and it is spread by mosquitoes.
Major flooding is expected to continue along several major river systems on Friday, including the Lachlan, Darling and Murrumbidgee rivers, affecting towns including Forbes, Condobolin, Bourke and Hay.
Several communities along the border are inundated, and the Bureau has several active flood warnings for NSW and Victoria.
Some NSW communities could be dealing with rain well into the New Year.
– with AAP
