Reports of alligators swimming through Sarasota streets after Hurricane Helene struck Florida have started to surface on social media.
Helene made landfall late Thursday night, about 10 miles west of the city of Perry, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The storm was a Category 4 hurricane at the time, with maximum sustained winds of around 140 mph. The storm brought a life-threatening storm surge, devastating winds and torrential rain to the area, which contributed to excessive flooding in several Florida cities. Six people have died from the storm, the Associated Press reported.
The storm quickly moved through the Sunshine State and is now a tropical storm, with winds of 60 mph in Georgia and South Carolina. But flooding and power outages remain, along with news of displaced wildlife such as alligators swimming in public areas.
In a newscast Thursday night, an ABC reporter cited reports of alligators swimming through some flooded streets and warned people not to venture out into the floodwaters.
“We’ve actually been seeing some people swimming through the area, alligators swimming through the area,” the reporter said, adding that her producer just told her they’ve seen the alligators. “This is another reason you don’t want to get into this mess. My friend likes to call it Jurassic Florida.”
Many posts on X (formerly Twitter) about the event said that the alligators were seen in Sarasota. Newsweek reached out to the city of Sarasota and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) by email for comment.
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