To say hurricanes aren’t much fun would be an understatement in the eyes of most species who encounter them. Humans flee, sharks dive, but for cows escape is not so easy. One unlucky bovine was reminded of this during Hurricane Ida, as they were swept into the air and unceremoniously dumped on a tree. Caught in the branches, the cow was unable to free itself from its tree trap in Louisiana, but, fortunately, rescue workers came to its aid in cutting the animal free.
Louisiana was badly affected by Hurricane Ida and following the destruction, locals got busy assessing storm damage. Road Yard Chief of Operations Louis Pomes and colleagues discovered the cow stuck in a tree in Florissant, and quickly got to work trying to get it out.
Hurricane Ida was reported to be one of the most powerful storms to ever hit the United States, carrying winds traveling at 230 kilometers per hour (150 miles per hour). The devastation left in its wake saw power outages, property damage and even caused the Mississippi River to flow backward. The tropical storm made landfall on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina that caused over 1,800 deaths in late August 2005.
However, it wasn’t the winds that led the cow to its unfortunate fate but floods, which saw the animal scooped up and tangled in the tree’s branches, says a report from the Independent. In the video, the high floodwaters can still be seen as the rescue workers wade around the tree trying to work out how best to free the cow. According to a report from CNN, the cow was eventually successfully freed.
The cow is by no means alone in the list of animals that have found themselves in unusual predicaments following a storm, and it's arguably far luckier than some. In 2017, Cyclone Debbie delivered a very Australian surprise to the people of Queensland, as she dumped a 1.5-meter-long (5-foot-long) bull shark in the middle of the road. Discovered in the town of Ayr, it’s thought the shark also got swept up by floodwaters before finally running aground in the middle of the street.
A zoo in New South Wales had to grapple with floodwaters that threatened to release their resident crocodiles from their enclosure. Staff at the Australian Wildlife Park were forced to get creative with brooms in order to keep the animals at a safe distance from fences, while others dashed soggy koalas and fellow zoo residents to dry spots. In Thailand however, keepers were not so successful as 10 crocodiles escaped during a flood in 2017.
[H/T: USAToday]
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