Flooding can lead to a variety of health problems, and drowning is just one of them. Injuries, hypothermia, infectious diseases, undernutrition, and mental health problems are on the list of potential issues after a major flood. However, there is one major problem currently impacting a Chinese town after devastating flooding: Crocodiles are terrorizing residents.
Dozens of crocodiles escaped from a crocodile farm in Maoming, a city in Southern China due to flooding in the area. The city is trying to locate and capture them.
The Siamese crocodiles, including 69 adults and six babies, went missing after about four months' worth of rain flooded the city in just two days. Parts of the city were submerged in up to 3.3 feet of flood water.
Authorities are "trying to keep things under control, but the number of escaped crocodiles is a bit too many," Dazhong Daily reported the district emergency management bureau as saying.
People who reside in the immediate area of the crocodile farm are being told to avoid going out and stay away from rivers, lakes and reservoirs, according to the newspaper.
People have been sharing videos of the crocodiles on Douyin, TikTok's Chinese platform. In them you can see the reptiles' heads popping out of a lake.
According to one officer with the city's emergency response department more than a dozen of the escaped crocodiles have been found but that "there could still be over 50 out there."
While police, firefighters and emergency responders with underwater sonar equipment are searching, "we are not quite sure where they are," the officer said.
As of Friday, no deaths had been reported. Southern Metropolis Daily reported that paramilitary has received orders to shoot dead any crocodile that emerges from the deep-water zone.
According to villagers who have visited the farm, the smallest adult crocodiles there weigh at least 220 pounds.
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Maoming is home to some of the country's largest crocodile farms. Most of the farming is for crocodile skin and meat, which is a local delicacy.
