In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, dangerous creatures lurked in the murky floodwaters that lingered in storm-ravaged Houston, Texas. When 77-year-old Nancy Reed fell in her flooded home and broke her arm, one of the most vicious attacked.

Reed ultimately succumbed to flesh-eating bacteria, a supercharged bacterial strain that made its way into her subcutaneous tissue, traveled along planes of connective tissue called fascia and—like a hurricane—quickly destroyed everything in its path. (Find out why this hurricane season has been so catastrophic.)

Flesh-eating bacteria is technically a misnomer; these bacteria don’t eat flesh, but instead release toxins that liquefy tissue. The medical term is necrotizing fasciitis, or “death of the fascia.” Roughly a thousand cases are reported each year in