There were a few pythons sold in South Florida as “exotic pets” in the 70s and 80s, but near zero in the wild. (In the Everglades as breeding pairs.)
But! The hurricane south of Miami wiped out out two pet stores in Homestead and released all of their pythons into one small area right at the edge of the Everglades. A perfect combination for unrestricted breeding at 12-15 new snakes per year per pair.
If it was Hurricane Andrew, that’s been 20 years that they’ve had to breed. Eewww.