India _ Agencies
According to Indian media, the teams specializing in catching snakes have spread in the flood-affected areas of India, after survivors returning to their homes in the state of Kerala have received warnings of a new risk of the snakes invading their homes.
The flooding caused more than one million people to flee, many of them resorting to thousands of relief camps that spread across the southern Indian state.
Quoting Indian newspapers, the BBC said there were fears that reptiles might be hiding in house cabinets, under carpets and in washing machines in houses that were flooded with floodwaters.
Hospitals in the most affected areas have been prepared to prepare anti-toxin vaccines for those who are exposed to snake bites.
It was reported that Scorpions and other insects also resorted to houses along with large snakes, while a video clip on social media showed a woman trying to prevent a three-metre python snake from entering her home garden by hitting the floor with a broom stick.
A number of hospitals in northern and central Kerala, which have been severely affected by flooding, reported a high number of snake bites.
Vava Surash, a snake hunter, told the Hindustan Times that he grabbed five cobra species in the Ernakulam district.
"I found one in the closet on the second floor of the house... And another on a rack at home. "
The authorities urged the returnees to use the sticks to stir up the contents of their houses before approaching them, in order to find out if there was any hiding in them, according to local media outlets.
