SLIDELL, La. (WGNO) —A Louisiana man was attacked and dismembered by an alligator in an incident officials say is related to the aftermath of Hurricane Ida.
The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office received a call around 11:30 a.m. from a woman claiming her 71-year-old husband was attacked by an alligator.
According to the STPSO, the retired elderly man had gone under his home to retrieve tools needed to repair damage caused by Hurricane Ida on Sunday. He was attacked while walking through the flood waters.
After hearing a commotion, the wife reportedly ran outside just in time to see her husband in the jaws of the alligator as the reptile ripped the man’s arm from his body.
She struggled to get her husband onto the first step of the house from the flood waters then immediately went to get help. When she returned, her husband was gone.
Search and rescue teams spent a day looking for the injured man. Despite no signs of the victim, the STPSO has yet to pronounce him dead.
With nearby water levels elevated to more than four feet due to torrential rainfall received from Ida, the attack is being considered Hurricane Ida-related.