JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Alexa Lane in Jacksonville’s Westside was rebuilt after it collapsed over the weekend and property owners said they’ve dealt with a variety of problems because of the rain, including the loss of animals in McGirts Creek.
For the first eight weeks of Uno the pig’s life, she lived inside then moved out with her sister Dos. Eventually, the two got a lot bigger and lived in a pig pen with their sister Reba.
Until the horrible rainstorm from this past weekend.
RELATED: River flood warning extended for North Fork Black Creek in Middleburg
Keoni Switzer and his wife raise pigs on their Westside property. He said he didn’t realize that the flooding was going to be as bad as it was.
“I put the pigs up made sure all their food was out and I put extra hay and bedding inside there. [I]Was like ‘alright see you in the morning.’ Then my wife woke up and said ‘hey it’s flooding,’ and I had five pigs around a tree trying to survive,” Switzer said.
Some pigs survived the flooding, but Uno, Dos and their sister Reba did not.
“Kunekune is a pig from New Zealand. So they’re actually famous for the movie Moana. So these are a unique pig. Nobody, hardly anybody has them around here.” Switzer said.
The water line was still visible in their pen from what Switzer discovered when he came out.
“I’m seeing that water line is high, about 3 feet. Some places we were searching for pigs and it was up to my chest,” Switzer said.
Switzer said he found one pig wading, one swimming and another clinging to a fence to avoid the water.
Robert Raper, a Westside resident, had to rebuild barriers between his property and McGirts Creek after the flooding.
“It’s done this quite a few times in the past. I thought the army corps of engineers had fixed it last time but obviously not,” Raper said.
But sadly at the Switzer property the loss continues to sting. Keoni Switzer had to bury his pigs Monday.
Some of the pigs were able to swim, but he said when the pigs grow to 200 pounds, they’re too heavy to swim and that was the case with the pigs who didn’t survive.