Scottish Couple Flees from their Florida Home After Seeing Alligators and Sharks on Streets

A Scottish couple fled their home in Florida with their children after seeing alligators and sharks swarming the streets when Hurricane Ian ravaged the state in late September.

The said family reportedly lost their new and uninsured house when the Category 4 storm brought strong winds and severe flooding due to heavy rain and storm surges.

Escape from Florida Home

(Photo : Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Scots expat named Thomas Smart, 49, and his wife Abby were forced to flee their Florida home and escape the "horror storm" as alligators and sharks apparently swarmed residential areas amid the wrath of Hurricane Ian, according to the Daily Record UK.

The couple reportedly claimed they were horrified of seeing alligators in driveways and swimming in water along the streets of their home in the Cape Coral neighborhood.

The incident is only part of uploaded images and videos on social media of sightings of wildlife in flooded streets, which were earlier warned by local authorities.

Also Read: Alligator Spotted Swimming in Orlando Floodwaters During the Wake of Hurricane Ian

Hurricane Ian Florida Impact

Thomas, a motorcycle salesman, originally hailed from Glasgow, Scotland and only moved to Florida a few months ago.

Meanwhile, his wife Abby has two daughters aged eight and 10, is native to the Sunshine State, stating the aftermath of Hurricane Ian is like a "war zone" and is worse than the catastrophic devastation left by Hurricane Irma in 2017, as cited by the UK media outlet.

Abby added that the first hurricane she experienced in the United States was Irma and there was nowhere to run from the 2017 storm at that time since the hurricane covered the whole state.

She noted the damage from Ian is far more severe due to the massive storm surge that came with it and its slow movement when it passed over the Southeast US.

With maximum sustained winds of up to 150 miles per hour and widespread flooding, Florida became a war zone with communities wiped off the map, bridges collapsed, and roads washed away.

The devastation left by Ian is not a matter of repairing damage but it is undergoing complete rebuilding, Abby narrates.

More than 100 people who have died in Florida have been attributed to Ian since it made landfall in the Fort Myers area of Southwest Florida as a Category 4 hurricane on September 28, according to Fox Weather.

Flood Wild Animals

In late September, Florida officials issued a warning that wild animals like alligators, bears, and snakes may appear across the state during the passage of Hurricane Ian.

In fact, the warning came into reality as viral videos of an alligator and an alleged shark emerged during the said period.

On October 1, a YouTube video showed NBC News Reporter Jesse Kirsch spotting a swimming alligator behind him while covering the havoc caused by Ian in Orlando, Florida.

The reptile was seen in a flooded street in the neighborhood.

In early October, a Storyful video uploaded by David Cameratta showed a so-called hurricane shark or street shark at a flooded backyard near Fort Myers, Florida.

The alleged shark video was confirmed by both Storyful and The Associated Press.