Texas city releases video of 'floating ant piles' amid flooding caused by Beta
The storm dumped up to 14 inches of rain in greater Houston
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Texas city released nightmarish video this week showing piles of ants floating in floodwaters caused by Tropical Storm Beta.
The frightening footage posted Tuesday by officials in League City southeast of Houston shows a mammoth mound of insects that appeared to be fire ants floating together in floodwater at a city park.
“This is one of the reasons why you should avoid walking through flood water,” the tweet read. “Floating ant piles – like this one found at Countryside Park – can form and be very dangerous.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}BETA FLOODS HOUSTON AS OVER 500K GALLONS OF WASTEWATER SPILL, BODY OF MISSING FISHERMAN FOUND
Beta, which made landfall late Monday near Port O’Connor, Texas, weakened to a tropical depression Tuesday as it dumped up to 14 inches of rain in parts of greater Houston.
Floating ant piles in League City, Texas, after Tropical Storm Beta made landfall and spawned flooding. (City of League City, Texas)
One region in Brazoria County south of Houston saw nearly 18 inches of precipitation since Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Vehicles are stranded at the intersection of Pearland and South Sam Houston parkways, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2020, in Houston, following flooding from Tropical Storm Beta. (Godofredo A. Vásquez/Houston Chronicle via AP)
The storm, which forced forecasters to use the Greek alphabet for just the second time since the 1950s because it ran out of names in the busy hurricane season, was expected to move inland along the coast over Texas through Wednesday.
It isn’t the first time Texans have seen fire ants banding together to survive flooding, KTRK reports. The insects, also known as red ants, were spotted by some Houston residents during Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Footage showed the ants forming “floating mats” to escape floodwaters at Brazos Bend State Park near Houston three years ago, the station reported.
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The ants first came to the US from Argentina during the 1930s — likely as cargo stowaways — and quickly spread to Florida, Louisiana, Florida, Texas and later California, Science reported in 2011.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The ants, which 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, Smithsonian Magazine reported in 2017.