The US is no stranger to extreme weather events.
Plenty of people lose their homes and livelihoods in the US every year to wildfires, hurricanes and other events. But for people in some places, flooding puts their very lives in danger.
24 Crocodiles So Far
So far, 24 crocodiles have been rescued from residential areas.
One was even seen lounging on the roof of a house where it had crawled away from the flood waters.
Crocodiles Not Alone
Crocodiles were not the only creatures rescued from homes and residential areas during this flooding event.
The forest department reported rescuing 75 others animals, some of them potentially deadly to humans. These included cobras, large turtles, other snakes and even a porcupine.
Crocodiles Released Back
The crocodiles will be released back into the river when the flooding goes down.
The river is home to a population of about 440 of them and their human neighbours are by no means strangers to them.
Man Dragged Into River
That the crocodiles can be deadly is not in question.
Although they prefer to eat animals rather than humans, a 30 year old farm worker was recently dragged into a different river by a crocodile and was unable to escape.
Why the Flooding?
The Vadodara district in India is one of the worst hit areas in the recent flooding.
It comes as a result of extreme downpours as well as local authorities releasing pent up water to run downstream. Unlike in the US, early warning systems are not effective there and so the local residents had no time to prepare before the flood waters hit in the middle of the night.
Nights on Top of Trucks
When the flooding hit, many people had only enough time to grab their children and run.
This meant that many had to spend nights sitting on top of their pickup trucks with their families as the rain continued.
Locals Made a Raft
As the National Disaster Response Force were unable to reach many far flung villages for several days, villagers took matters into their own hands.
They made a raft from aluminium and used it to ferry rations to fellow villagers and to rescue others. “Since we were unable to get a boat, we made our own raft for our people…to help them,” said 39-year-old Iqbalhussain Abdulghani Malek.
Livelihoods Gone
Most of the local communities in Vadodara are cattle herding villages.
To them, their cattle are like children, but they were forced to choose between their cattle and their children when the flood waters hit. Now their homes, their cattle and their possessions are all gone.
Crocodiles Least of All
In light of this disaster, it seems that the deadly crocodiles may be the least of the villagers’ worries as they try to pull their lives out of the wreckage.
They are unbowed, however, and determined to go on fighting even while the grief of their losses is fresh.
