A record-setting snowstorm along the Gulf Coast has Louisiana officials worried people unaccustomed to the cold might overreact in ways that could get them killed. Hence, a strange warning was issued during the storm: Don’t invite alligators, bears and other wildlife into your home.

A winter storm was on a track to sweep through Texas and Louisiana, across the Gulf Coast and deep into Florida, significant snow and ice in tow.

The rare winter storm that is hitting the southern portion of the United States became historic Tuesday morning when the Lake Charles National Weather Service office issued its first-ever blizzard warning.