- One Alligator tried to attack a Fort Myers resident in their car on Wednesday night (October 9th)
- Animal sanctuary owner Christopher Gillette warned his followers about staying out of floodwaters
- The floodwaters from Hurricane Milton are “going to be like an open highway” for alligators once the storm passes
With Hurricane Milton causing chaos and destruction in Florida over the past day, residents already have plenty to worry about. But now, there’s another serious danger that could emerge after the storm passes.
Alligators.
A video showed a Fort Myers man almost getting bitten by an alligator when he tried to get out of his car on the night of October 9th. A wildlife expert is now telling people in the area to stay away from floodwaters if they can. The storms have been pushing alligators into places where more people live.
Christopher Gillette, who operates an animal sanctuary in northern Florida, sent a stark warning to his Instagram followers as alligators “are going to be on the move in the floodwaters” following the storm.
Gillette’s video caption gives a heads-up about staying safe during a hurricane. It says, “Be careful of alligators and snakes in the floodwaters! Stay safe and avoid the water! Remember the usual safety tips: don’t feed the gators, keep kids and pets away, and don’t swim or play in the water! While the chance of encountering wildlife is pretty low, it’s best to stay out because the water could be contaminated with sewage!”
In the video, Gillette is crouched next to a giant alligator that honestly looks way too scary for us. He shares that alligators can “hunker down and hold their breath for six hours,” but after the storm, the floodwaters will be “like an open highway for them.”
Gillette also warned about pet safety, saying that while alligators and venomous snakes, who could also have been displaced, do not want anything to do with humans, “they do like small animals like your pets,”.
In North Fort Myers, a local person had a close call when an alligator jumped out of the floodwaters near his car. The gator almost bit him but ended up going for his tires instead.
A North Fort Myers resident captured video of a gator appearing from the floodwaters during Hurricane Milton. pic.twitter.com/0kEKce17tU
— NBC2 News (WBBH-TV) (@NBC2) October 10, 2024
The storm is expected to move away from Florida later today (Thursday), but the damage caused by Milton and Helene will impact local communities in Florida for many years ahead.