Australian tumbleweeds swamp neighborhood during wind storm: 'It's completely taken over our back yard'
HILLSIDE, Australia -- A rare and wild sight greeted residents of one Australian neighborhood when a strong wind storm blew a freakish amount of tumbleweeds into their development over the weekend.
Residents said the grass, known locally as "hairy panic," seemed to blow out of nowhere into Hillside, a suburb of Melbourne. It piled up across streets, yards and even a pool, reaching hip-height in front of one woman's home.
"Our garden is normally immaculately presented. Not today, though," resident Zoe Marchione told Australia's Seven Network, surrounded by grass. "Out of the whole street, our house has copped it quite bad."
Marchione said winds were forecast to reach 110 kilometers per hour, or about 68 miles per hour.
Added neighbor Naomi Gauci: "Not in the 15 years that we've lived here, we've never seen this sort of thing happen."
The tumbleweeds blew in from a nearby horse paddock, according to local media reports.
