Louisiana man missing after alligator attack in area flooded by Ida

A Louisiana man is missing and presumed dead after being attacked by an alligator Monday amid the flooding from Hurricane Ida, USA Today reported.

St. Tammany’s Fire District spokesperson Jason Gaubert told the newspaper that the man’s wife witnessed the attack near the city of Slidell, La. 

Gaubert said the 71-year-old man lost his arm in the attack before his body was swept away by the floodwaters, according to USA Today. 

The St. Tammany’s Sheriff Office told NBC affiliate WDSU that the man’s wife tried to pull her husband up the steps during the attack but he drifted away when she went to get medical aid. 

There have been two confirmed death from Hurricane Ida, which made landfall in Louisiana on Sunday, causing severe flooding and knocking out power across the region. One man drowned, while another person was killed by a falling tree, according to officials. 

Alligator attacks are common in flooded communities after a major storm. 

An Alabama woman recorded a video of a large alligator strolling through her neighborhood in the aftermath of Hurricane Sally last year, according to CBS News. Another video surfaced of a large alligator walking on a golf course after Tropical Storm Eta hit the Florida religion in 2020, according to NBC News.

Yet even with the South housing an estimated 5 million alligators, gator attacks during hurricanes are still rare, USA Today noted.