Lauren Pineda
As Tropical Storm Beta hit the Houston area pretty hard, one Texas city released a video that would have anyone choosing to continue to read this now feeling like there are little legs crawling all over you (this is obviously a warning to those who absolute loathe that feeling!). Believe it or not, piles of ants have been floating in the floodwaters of League City, Texas, a city southeast of Houston. And if that doesn’t freak you out at all, then I commend you with the upmost respect.
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The nightmarish video showed mounds of not just normal ants, but fire ants, floating together with such teamwork to stay alive in the floodwaters of a city park. League City tweeted, “This is one of the reasons why you should avoid walking through flood water. Floating ant piles – like this one found at Countryside Park – can form and be very dangerous.”
FLOATING ANT PILES
This is one of the reasons why you should avoid walking through flood water. Floating ant piles-like this one found at Countryside Park-can form and be very dangerous. pic.twitter.com/NhqTLRwFs8
— LeagueCityTX (@LeagueCityTX) September 22, 2020
Tropical Storm Beta made landfall near Port O’Connor, Texas, late Monday, dumping 14 inches of rain all over Houston. According to the National Hurricane Center, a region in Brazoria County south of Houston got 18 inches of rain since Sunday. Since the 1950s, forecasters have been forced to used the Greek alphabet for a second time to name the storm since hurricane season has been especially busy this year.
As if the year needed more trouble, KTRK reports that seeing fire ants ban together isn’t the first time Texans have witnessed such a thing. Red ants were also spotted in the same fashion by Houston residents during Hurricane Harvey back in 2017. And for some history, according to the NY Post, the ants first came from Argentina back in the 30s, spreading to Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and then eventually California.
Smithsonian Magazine reported also in 2017 that ants, “can build rafts consisting of up to 500,000 insects, sting up to 5 million people per year and send 25,000 to the hospital.” As if the coronavirus or COVID-19 wasn’t enough trouble, not only is there ultimate divisions in the country, but amongst the multitudes of catastrophic storms appearing, mounds of ant colonies are forming literal ant rafts.
I might be kidding around but is it weird to think that floating fire ants make me believe ants could be plotting against the human race now? Have they evolved as animals and are now ready to take advantage of the human race at its absolute weakest? I’m totally kidding, but that’s how you know can tell how these videos really made me feel.
