‘Too frightened to pick things up’: NSW flood-affected residents return home to find snakes and spiders have moved in

Julie Botfield’s food-affected rental home in NSW’s Clybucca covered with spiders. Photograph: Julie Botfield

Some New South Wales residents returning home after last month’s record-breaking floods are finding mud isn’t the only thing waiting to greet them.

Thousands of mid-north coast residents left their homes in May after flooding inundated dwellings and washed away livestock. Some are only just returning weeks after the floods – and about 120 households remain in emergency accommodation, according to the NSW Reconstruction Authority.