Fay Brings Floods—and Gators

Florida residents bailing out amid four days of relentless rain from Tropical Storm Fay now have a more hair-raising worry: alligators and snakes. The storm has dumped about 30 inches of rain on the state this week, sending gators and others critters into flooded streets and neighborhoods in search of dry ground, the AP reports.

"I took my flashlight and was like, 'You've got to be kidding me, a big old alligator swimming around here,'" said a National Guardsman in Melbourne. At least two have been captured in residential neighborhoods, and several others spotted. Fay, meanwhile, has headed for ocean only to return to land with tropical storm intensity three separate times, making it only the fourth recorded storm to do so. It should be gone for good by Saturday. (More Florida stories.)