Wild venomous snakes could be pushed into homes in Hurricane Florence floodwaters

Hurricane Florence has prompted fears of potential deaths and flooding, but there’s another impact the massive storm will have that we haven’t addressed: snakes.

While parts of the east coast of the US were prepping for the storm, a terrifying revelation emerged that Hurricane Florence also posted a snake risk.

As we read in a yarn from Tyler Fleming at The Sun News in Myrtle Beach, North Carolina, snakes living in the wetlands could be pushed into suburban areas with floodwaters.

Venomous cottonmouth and copperhead snakes could potentially be slithering into residential neighbourhoods, according reptile park operator Thad Bowman.

These kinds of snakes can be deadly, so of course the news was quite unsettling. 

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The story quickly spread, appearing on sites such as The New York Post overnight.

But it’s not just snakes people will have to look out for - floating colonies of ants are also a risk.

When floodwaters rose in South Carolina three years ago, with journos from WSAV describing a “floating island of fire ants” was spotted in Dorchester County.

And similar sights were seen when Hurricane Harvey pummelled Texas last year, with buoyant ant clumps terrifying residents:

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In a piece for The Conversation, Georgia Institute of Technology expert Craig Tovey pointed out that ants could react very quickly to floodwater

“Drop a clump of 100,000 fire ants in a pond of water,” he said.

“In minutes the clump will flatten and spread into a circular pancake that can float for weeks without drowning the ants.”

More on Hurricane Florence - Scientists go inside the eye of the storm: