A wildlife expert has warned Florida is about to see an uptick in alligator encounters after their habitats were disturbed by Hurricane Milton's ruthless floods.
Christopher Gillette, who operates a wildlife refuge in Putnam County, is urging Florida locals to stay alert. He said: "There will be lots of disturbed animals on the move, they're trying to survive the storm too."
Hurricane Milton brought powerful winds, rains and flooding to much of Florida after making landfall along the Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm. It weakened to a Category 1 storm as it moved through the state early Thursday.
Power outages were widespread and deaths have been reported from the severe weather. The animal guru elaborated, stating that gators are particularly dangerous because they can submerge and not breathe for up to six hours.
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Speaking to People, he disclosed: "They're going to go down, slow their heart rate down, and literally hold their breath for six hours. That's what they do in inclement weather like that - just sit on the bottom and wait it out. We've got ponds they're in that are six feet deep, so they'll be perfectly fine in there," reports the Express US .
As Floridians emerge to assess the havoc wreaked by the hurricane, Gillette is advising extreme caution. And it's not just alligators to be wary of he points out, "There will be many displaced animals that people have to watch out for, including snakes on the ground."
He stressed the danger: "They can be easy to miss when they're among all of the fallen branches on the ground. People need to be really careful navigating areas in the aftermath." Florida's already seeing some wild post-storm activity with alligators taking to the streets, thanks to Hurricane Helene.
An ABC 7 news reporter delivered a live update that included: "And we've actually been seeing some people swimming through the area... alligators swimming through the area. I'm listening to my producer in my ear here and they've seen some alligators swimming by."
Floridians are no strangers to the risks associated with alligators, especially following a storm. A viral video of an alligator cruising down an Alabama street emerged post-Hurricane Sally in September 2020.
Alligator sightings in Florida are common as it's home to an estimated 1.25 million gators. Hurricane Milton’s storm surge peaked at 8 to 10 feet (2.4 to 3 meters) in Sarasota County on the west side of Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a Thursday morning press conference.
Storm surge happens when water is pushed onshore by the force of high-speed winds circulating around a storm, according to the National Weather Service. Larger storms with higher winds produce higher surges. Many factors can affect storm surge, including storm intensity, size, the angle of its approach to the coast and coastal features or barriers. For these reasons, experts say surge forecasting is complex.
Storm surges can bring catastrophic flooding to coastal and inland areas, destroy building foundations and erode beaches and highways. They’re an abnormal rise of water above the predicted astronomical tide, according to the weather service, and can be one of the deadliest parts of a hurricane.
Taylor County, about 280 miles (450 kilometers) north of Sarasota, saw a storm surge of 20 feet (6 meters) during Hurricane Helene two weeks earlier.
Hurricane Katrina saw storm surge flooding of 28 feet (8.5 meters) above normal tide levels, and Hurricane Ike had surges up to 20 feet (6 meters).
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