Tarantulas, fire ants lurk in Texas floodwaters

[underpants]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92727051

http://media.npr.org/images/ap//AP_News_Wire:_US_News/1_Tropical_Weather_Hurricane_Dolly.sff_198.jpg


EDINBURG, Texas July 25, 2008, 03:58 pm ET · South Texans eager to salvage what they can from waterlogged homes struck by Hurricane Dolly have another problem: The floodwaters they're slogging through are laced with stinging fire ants, snakes and tarantulas.

"You don't want to wade in this water," state Health Services Commissioner David Lakey said during a visit to the Rio Grande Valley Friday. "You don't want to play in this water. You want to stay out of this water."

It was timely advice, but residents in many neighborhoods with waist-deep water had little choice as they sifted through the mess left by the Category 2 storm that hit the eastern Texas and Mexico coasts Wednesday. In eastern Hidalgo County, as much as 12 inches of rain fell in six hours, turning neighborhoods into coffee-colored lakes.

Officials estimated it could take six weeks for the low-lying region to completely dry out and 118,000 people still had no electricity Friday morning. Emergency managers tried to assure people that they would come to help and begged for patience. They said they were beginning to pump water from some of the worst hit areas and working to move water into floodways.


Yesterday
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=7954850&mesg_id=7954850

[realisticphish]

1. i hate spiders

but i don't mind tarantulas, which is bizarre, i know. I hope it survived

[msongs]

2. trantulas are not a threat, fire ants a different story howeve nt

[dsc]

3. true that

fire ants are brutal.