Florida residents trapped by gators and snakes in floodwaters: ‘It’s like an apocalyptic-type event’

Residents of a Florida community have been trapped in their homes for days by a historic rainstorm that left floodwaters high enough for fish, venomous snakes and alligators to swim right up to homes. Floridians in West Palm Beach’s Riverwalk community have been trapped in their homes, surrounded by nearly 10 inches of floodwater, after what was described as a one-in-1,000-year rain event dumped heavy showers across the region earlier this week.“It’s like an apocalyptic-type event,” resident Don Gentile told WPTV. Some parts of Palm Beach County were left with two to three feet of floodwater earlier this week after days of heavy rain. Roads were closed, and several polling locations were forced to relocate on Election Day Tuesday due to the flooding, according to 12 News. Other residents of the Riverwalk community said the flooding was unlike anything they’d ever seen before, as every street in the gated community had significant levels of flooding. Floridians experienced an ‘apocalyptic-type event’ caused by heavy rains that left high floodwaters (Getty)“Hopefully this will dissipate in the roadways,” Gentile said. “But every street in this community has some kind of flooding on it.” As a result of the flooding, residents have seen an influx of animals, from fish to venomous snakes to even alligators — sometimes swimming right up to their homes. As Gentile was walking the WPTV reporter to his backyard, the pair even ran into an alligator. His neighbor, James Whited, was left shocked by the sheer size of the animal. “That thing had to be — his head was bigger than a Volkswagen,” Whited said. The flooding caused some polling places to be relocated on Tuesday for the midterm elections (Getty)The flooding has left some families unable to drive through the neighborhood, and some children haven’t been able to get to school, according to the report. “I think the office main area got flooded, and that’s the only thing that is stopping me from going to school,” a young boy, Blake Zeitz, told the outlet. As the flooding lingers, residents are now questioning what kind of preparations could have been in place ahead of the historic rainfall to prevent these issues. “We’re Palm Beach County. We’re known for hurricanes and water and rain,” resident Debra Zeitz said. “Why can’t they predict something like this, too, or at least set up some kind of emergency way to deal with that?” Residents are being urged to use caution on the roads and avoid unnecessary travel through flooded areas.