FLORENCE, SC (FOX Carolina) – As the Pee Dee is hit by flooding of historic proportions, the heavy rains brought more than just flooding for one Florence family.

“There’s an alligator in our pond,” 4-year-old Blakeley told FOX Carolina.

Since the floods got out of hand and an alligator appeared, Blakeley has been banned from entering her backyard.

“A four to five-foot alligator showed up and completely freaked out my kids. They can’t be out here right now,” Lory Rawlinson said.

The alligator came at the same time that Debby brought record-breaking rainfall to parts of Florence, including Rawlinson’s backyard.

“It’s much worse than we thought,” he added.

Overnight, the Rawlinsons’ backyard turned into a pond with a playground, a pool and a trampoline submerged.

“The pressure of the water was so great that it ripped out three huge tree stumps that probably weigh at least 1,000 pounds.”

These stumps are from a fallen tree that was destroyed during Hurricane Matthew in 2016. Now the family is dealing with the effects of another major storm.

“All the damage in our basement, all the stuff we have stored there for Christmas and other holidays, and the kids’ spare clothes, I don’t know what we have to do. It’s hard,” Rawlinson said.

And now further dangers lurk in our own backyard.

“Don’t go in the pond because of the alligator,” Blakeley said.

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