'Watch out': Warning over snakes escaping hurricane floodwaters
Authorities have warned residents to look out for snakes as Tropical Storm Barry slams New Orleans.
Hurricane Barry rolled into the Louisiana coast on Saturday, flooding highways and forcing people to scramble to rooftops.
The storm dumped heavy rain that officials feared could test the levees and pumps that were bolstered after Hurricane Katrina devastated the state in 2005.
The deluge prompted a warning from the local fire authority to keep an eye out for reptiles also searching for dry land.
“If the area you live in has high water, watch out for snakes and other critters who are trying to escape the flood waters as well,” the St. Tammany Fire Protection District #1 wrote on Facebook.
The fire authority shared pictures of the serpents navigating floodwaters , along with the post.
“I will honestly vomit, poop on myself and pass out all at once if I see this,” one woman wrote while sharing the post with her Facebook friends.
Another commented: “Y’all stay safe.”
“Ok. Now I just officially freaked out....” a third wrote.
Others claimed the snakes pictured were not a venomous species, but that did little to ease the minds of many.
After briefly becoming a Category 1 hurricane, the system weakened to a tropical storm as it made landfall near Intracoastal City, about 257 kilometres west of New Orleans, the National Hurricane Centre said.
However, Barry was moving so slowly that heavy rain continued to lash Louisiana all weekend.
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