Watch as an alligator swims up to a lawn in Bluffton, South Carolina, after Debby flooded neighborhood roads. (Courtesy: @thelowcountryedit /TMX)
BLUFFTON, S.C. – A video shot Tuesday shows an alligator swimming up to a lawn as a neighborhood in Bluffton, South Carolina, was inundated by heavy rain from Tropical Storm Debby.
Adrienne Leblanc filmed the gator from her bedroom window as it cruised toward her home.
Leblanc told FOX Weather that, while it’s not uncommon for alligators to be in the lagoon behind her house, she had never seen the animals within feet of her home.
“I never felt like I was in imminent danger, but it’s definitely not a comfortable feeling having them that close to you,” she said.
The alligator approaches Leblanc’s lawn.
(@thelowcountryedit /TMX / FOX Weather)
Because of Debby dropping heavy rainfall on the Lowcountry of the Palmetto State, the lines between the lagoon and dry land blurred, giving Leblanc and her husband front row seats to see their very own wildlife show.
They spotted between six and eight gators, including two or three that were seen wrestling in the floodwater, throughout the day.
“I feel like I’m the alligator whisperer because they all kept coming to our house like a magnet,” Leblanc said.
PUDDLE-LOVING GATOR STROLLS ACROSS SOUTH CAROLINA ROAD DURING DEBBY’S DELUGE
In addition to the reptiles, Leblanc and her husband saw blue herons, egrets and cranes. They also spotted two bald eagles, which they named “Freedom” and “Liberty.”
FILE: Bald eagle.
(Rich Keen / DPRA / US Fish and Wildlife Services)
“It sounded like a symphony and orchestra of animals making noises unlike we have ever heard before in our backyard,” she said.
Seeing how the animals behaved during the flood, Leblanc noted how wildlife is as impacted by inclement weather as humans are.
“My husband and I and all of us residents in our neighborhood weren’t the only frazzled people,” she said. “Clearly the animals were, as well, because their environments were being disrupted by the amount of flooding.”
FILE: Alligator.
(USDA Forest Service / FOX Weather)
This isn’t the first time Leblanc and her husband experienced flooding around their home. In Oct. 2016, Hurricane Matthew surrounded their home with floodwater.
This year, floodwater from Debby filled their garage with 2-3 inches of water. The rest of the house remained unscathed.