Authorities in Louisiana have launched an investigation into the circumstances under which a 71-year-old man died while walking down a flooded street after Hurricane Ida passed.
Also read: Ida’s loss
Also read: Hurricane Ida: “Many days” to assess damage in Louisiana
Also read: Louisiana in the wake of “catastrophic” damage from Hurricane Ida
According to a statement from the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office, he was attacked and killed by an alligator near his residence in Slidele, just 50 km from New Orleans.
His wife told police she was inside the residence when she heard the altercation.
According to CNN, she saw a large alligator attacking her husband.
“She immediately ran to help her husband to stop the attack,” the statement said.
When the alligator left, the woman pulled her husband out of the water and went back inside her house to get first aid kits.
But by the time she got back to her husband, she had realized that his injuries were more serious than she thought.
She told police the woman would have boarded her boat to go to a higher place about 1.5 kilometers away.
However, upon her return, the statement stated that her husband had disappeared.
The sheriff’s office tried to identify the man who was using boats and vehicles for the flooded tracks, but failed.
In his statement, the sheriff reminded residents to be very vigilant when running in flooded areas as wild animals were also displaced during the storm.
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