The owners of the largest alligator adventure park in southeast Texas says that more than 350 of their alligators could escape and risk being outside of the sanctuary because of Hurricane Harvey-related flooding. There are other reptiles within the facility.
“Gator Country Adventure Park,” in Beaumont on FM 365 houses over 450 American alligators, crocodiles, venomous snakes, and other reptiles.
The photo on their website home page shows the owners, Arlie Hammonds and Gary Saurage with “Big Tex.”
Fox 4 covers southeast Texas and they interviewed Saurage on Monday. He told KFDM Fox 4 reporter James Ware that he has not seen flooding like this over the last 12 years.
“We’re less than a foot from (water) going over the fences,” Saurage said. “All of these are certified, high fences, but when it won’t quit, it won’t quit. We’ve worked around the clock and I don’t know what else to do. We’re truly tired. Everybody’s at the end of it, man. We don’t know what to do.”
“I’ve never seen (the water) stay anywhere near this before. The staying power of this storm is just unbelievable,” Saurage added.
He is worried that if it rains any more, the alligators could go over the top of the fences at the adventure park and sanctuary. Saurage and his partner have good reason to worry.
As reported by Breitbart Texas, Tropical Storm Harvey has been moving in the direction of this farm and the Louisiana border. Harvey is expected to make landfall, for the second time, near Port Arthur, Texas, late Tuesday night.
The good news is that Hammonds and Saurage have secured the crocodiles, poisonous snakes, and other dangerous reptiles. Big Tex and Big Al have also been placed in the trailer but the owners are worried about losing the reptiles they have collected for the gator park.
Jefferson and Hardin Counties are located east of Harris County where Houston is located. Fox 4 News reported that at least 10 water rescues were conducted in Jefferson County last night up to the early morning. There were 50 water rescues since midnight.
Follow complete coverage of Hurricane Harvey and Houston Floods on Breitbart Texas.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX, Gab, and Facebook.
Editor’s note: This article incorrectly stated that the alligators escaped at the time. The article was corrected to reflect that alligators could escape. Breitbart Texas reached out to the farm to assess whether later flooding impacted the wildlife.