EVACUATION BOO-BOO: ESCAPE IRMA, BATTLE BEARS

Worried dad Travis Gonzalez grabbed his family, bundled everyone into the family SUV, and outran Hurricane Irma. But they couldn’t escape another hazard: hungry bears.

The Boynton Beach family drove 24 hours on Sept. 7 through the heavy evacuee traffic to a cabin in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

All was going well, with Gonzalez relaxed enough to enjoy an early morning fishing trip Sept. 11.

But that fish smell apparently brought at least four bears wandering over to the cabin’s driveway.

“I came home, I was tired, just relaxing and not doing much,” Gonzalez said. “My oldest son went out to walk the dog and he said there were bears on top of the car.”

He didn’t believe the 8-year-old,

but then Gonzalez’s mom started screaming, “Oh my God!”

Gonzalez looked outside to see the bears in a panic, locked inside his Chevy Tahoe

“I saw them ripping everything to pieces,” Gonzalez said.

Wearing only shorts and flip flops, he crept over to the Tahoe, yanked on the door handle and ran — but the door didn’t budge. By then, the bears were freaking out as they tried to escape their unintentional trap.

A second try worked, with a bear leaping out of the SUV seconds after Gonzalez opened the door. After briefly heading in his direction, the bear took off.

Gonzalez made it to safety. The Tahoe didn’t fare as well, with about $2,000 in damage, including shredded seats and broken mirrors.

“If I would have locked the door, I would have been fine,” Gonzalez said. “The cop told me the bears always go through cars; they know how to open up doors. They go into people’s homes and go through the fridge.”

Growing up in Minnesota, Gonzalez said he’s used to not locking his door, but has now reconsidered.

Despite the torn-up seats and other damage, Gonzalez to drove the Tahoe back to Boynton Beach Sept. 12.

To top things off, Gonzalez came home to find a tree had fallen on his other pickup truck. But with one busted window and some cosmetic damage to the bed of the truck, he was still able to drive it, he said.

Despite all the chaos, there was a bright spot for the Gonzalez family. A neighbor told them their power came back on just a couple of hours before they got home.

TRAVIS GONZALEZ/ COURTESY The hungry bears locked themselves in Travis Gonzalez’s SUV. It made a lousy meal.

Travis Gonzalez of Boynton Beach took his family to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee to avoid Irma. While there, these bears got into the family SUV and got locked inside.

PHOTOS BY TRAVIS GONZALEZ/COURTESY To get the bears out of the locked SUV, he got got it unlocked, opened the door a smidge and then ran like crazy.