A plant known as hairy panic has left parts of a small town in southeastern Australia overwhelmed with tumbleweeds, and global news media attention, with residents and journalists recording bizarre scenes of dry, yellow grass piling up around cars and doorways.

The windblown grass has become a major nuisance in Wangaratta, in Victoria State, where some people have had to dig their way in and out of their homes, according to Australian news reports. In some cases, they removed the tumbleweeds with leaf blowers.

“It makes it difficult to get the car out in the morning — if you can find it,” one Wangaratta resident, Jason Perna, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Images of hairy panic blanketing parts of Wangaratta were picked up by international news outlets, including the BBC and CNN, bringing an unusual amount of attention to the town with a population of 17,000.