As Floridians are coming to terms with the devastation, shocking footage of the apocalyptic streets of Florida have begun to emerge including videos of man-eating sharks in backyards!
A video of a huge, dark colored fish with its fin breaking the water in the backyard of a home in Hendry Creek, Fort Myers in Florida has gone viral.
The video, which has amassed over 12 million views on social media goes to show how tricky rescue missions will be in Florida, as many more sharks are likely to have taken advantage of the floodwater and made their way into Floridian neighborhoods!
Many initially believed the video to be fake, but yesterday, real estate worker, Dominic Cameratta said he could see the huge fish hanging out in his neighbor’s yard from his house across the street.
“I didn´t know what it was – it just looked like a fish or something.
“I zoomed in, and all my friends are like, “it’s like a shark, man!”‘
Cameratta said he believed the animal to be around 4ft in length. Numerous dangerous shark species are common in Floridian waters including Tiger Sharks, Bull Sharks, Hammerheads and Great Whites, all of which are capable of growing to the size of the fish in the video.
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The storm surge is so powerful from #HurricaneIan that it has brought a shark into the city streets of Fort Myers.
🎥@BradHabuda pic.twitter.com/RHY0kK5RHR
— Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) September 28, 2022
George Burgess, an expert from the Florida Museum of Natural History said that he believes the fish in the footage “appears to be a juvenile shark”, but Dr. Neil Hammerschlag, the head of University of Miami’s shark conservation program said it was “hard to tell” and that it could have been another large fish.
Residents say the ‘street shark’ may have made its way into the neighborhood from a nearby retention pond which flooded its banks due to the heavy rainfall.
“Young bull sharks are common inhabitants of low salinity waters – rivers, estuaries, subtropical embayments – and often appear in similar videos in Florida water bodies connected to the sea such as coastal canals and ponds,” explained Yannis Papastamatiou, a shark expert and marine biologist at Florida International University.
Meanwhile, further gruesome footage taken of Ian’s aftermath shows caskets from a cemetery in Oakland being washed up and moved from their burial sites. Families with relatives buried at the site watched “panicked that their loved ones had been swept away” as the waters unearthed coffins.
“My family buried our grandmother here last Tuesday,” one local told Fox35. “It’s [the flooding] hard to believe”.
So far, more than 700 people have been rescued from Charlotte and Lee Counties which were the worst hit by Ian, which is reportedly one of the worst storms in the history of the country with winds reaching up to 150mph. So far, as least 12 are confirmed dead but the exact numbers remain unknown.
“The numbers are still unclear, but we are hearing early reports of what could be a substantial loss of life,” said Biden on Thursday.
Around 2.3 million were left without power on yesterday afternoon and several hospitals had no water supply.
Ian is now making its way North from Florida towards the Georgia and South Carolina coastlines. It is expected to reach South Carolina by Friday afternoon. Experts have warned of a “life threatening” storm surge by up to 6-7 feet in both regions later today.