Watch: Alligator Surprise During Hurricane Ida

A new video, showing a huge alligator visiting a Louisiana resident, is now going viral on the Internet. It shows the courtyard pool of the resident's home in Mandeville, US, flooded and overflowing after Hurricane Ida barrelled through the area recently. As the man stepped out of his home and walked towards the stairs to get to the courtyard pool to see the flood, he spotted an 8-foot alligator just below the stairs. It was hiding under the floating garbage and only its head was visible. Stunned, he stepped back. The predator was just feet away from him and made a move towards its potential prey.

After noticing it, the man said “hello” to “Mr Alligator” and took a few more steps towards it to get a better view – at this moment, the predator moved. The man said the alligator went under the staircase later and he opened the gate to let it leave the neighbourhood quietly.

The video has been receiving interesting reactions from YouTube users.

One of them, Trulylatino, said, “Mr. Alligator, want to meet you and say hello.”

This user, Tito Adiyanto said, “Whoaa. What the... Damn... How did you get out from there.”

“You know, for real that thing on anyone's doorstep is a complete nope,” said a third user, Armann.

“The only thing I hear is: Oh look at this, oh, oh ho ho, ho ho ho,” read one of the comments, referring to the Louisiana resident's reaction on camera.

Despite the region being home to millions of alligators, attacks by these reptiles during or after the hurricane are rare. These reptiles have sensors that allow them to detect changes in weather pressure. They are known to retreat into their natural habitat when a storm is approaching.

Several people have died, subway and air travel had to be suspended as Hurricane Ida dumped a month's worth of rain in a matter of hours. Thousands are without power. New York had to declare an emergency after flash floods hit the area.