Ida devastation continues: Coroner says alligator killed missing man, thousands still without power and caskets stuck in mud

Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY
·2 min read

Nearly a month after Hurricane Ida devastated parts of Louisiana and the northeast with severe flooding, the remains of a man who was missing after a suspected alligator attack in the storm's floodwaters were found in the stomach of the animal.

Timothy Satterlee Sr., 71, was attacked by an alligator in flooded waters in Slidell, Louisiana, on Aug. 30, a day after Ida hit the state's shores. His wife witnessed the attack, which she reported took off his arm. She said she went to find help but he was missing when she returned.

The remains were identified as Satterlee this week using DNA samples, according to St. Tammany Parish Coroner Dr. Charles Preston. The 504-pound gator was captured and killed earlier this month and human remains were found inside its belly.

The news comes as effects of Ida are still being felt across the state of Louisiana, with thousands still without power as workers repair downed power lines. Debris from the storm remain scattered around some communities, and garbage hasn't been collected for weeks in parts of New Orleans.

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Ironton resident Kornell Davis walks through the Ironton cemetery, still covered in nearly a foot a marsh mud Sunday, Sept. 19, 2021, three weeks after the wind and storm surge from Hurricane Ida devastated the historic African community in Plaquemines Parish, La.
Ironton resident Kornell Davis walks through the Ironton cemetery, still covered in nearly a foot a marsh mud Sunday, Sept. 19, 2021, three weeks after the wind and storm surge from Hurricane Ida devastated the historic African community in Plaquemines Parish, La.

In the town of Ironton, caskets that were swept away from their burial locations in above-ground tombs during the hurricane remain scattered and stuck in the mud throughout the community, CNN reported.

People are "shocked by the magnitude of the destruction," Haywood Johnson, the pastor of St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church in Ironton, told the outlet.

"(B)ut they're even more so overwhelmed by their loved ones floating and ending up landing in the streets and people's yards and on the side of the levee and out in the field, and it's just, just overwhelming," he said.

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A tent city in the southeastern Louisiana town of Houma remains a month later, housing energy company workers from across the country who are trying to restore downed power lines and repair substations. Some power lines are caught up in swampy areas.

“It’s nasty. It’s chest deep. You can’t walk because the growth," Jon Hise, a Sparks Energy foreman working with a crew in Houma to reset power lines.

“We’ve had storms before. But the devastation was nothing of this magnitude,” Matthew Peters, operations manager for South Louisiana Electric Cooperative Association, told The Associated Press.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ida's effects: Alligator killed missing man, caskets stuck in mud