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The North Carolinians, struck by the storm, face a new plague – millions of hungry mosquitoes, with some invaders bigger than more common species.
Mosquitoes lay their eggs in stagnant waters – of which there are now many in the state of Tar Heel – thanks to floods caused by Hurricane Florence, which dumped more than 30 inches of rain over the area .
"It's like" a bad sci-fi movie, "Robert Phillips told the Fayetteville Observer," They were flooding me and one of them landed on me. " was like a little blackbird. I said to my wife, "My God, look at the size of this thing." I told him that I had to use a shotgun on those things if they were getting bigger.
Cassie Vadovsky took her four-year-old home to find a swarm of zebra-stricken, bloodthirsty pests ready to attack.
"It was like a squall – like it was snowing mosquitoes," said the mother of two housewives. "I think my car stirred them. I waited until they calmed down before catching the kids, and then getting back into the house.
She posted a video of the swarm on Facebook that was viewed 128,000 times.
In her letter, her daughter asks herself, "Why are you doing this – taking pictures of the wasps?" Vadovsky replies, "These are not wasps. They are mosquitoes.
Those whom Vadovsky filmed call "Gallinippers" or "Psorophora ciliata", according to entomologist Michael Waldvogel of the State of North Carolina, who can be three times larger than D & # 39; other more common species.
"I'm not even on the side of the city that has experienced the biggest flood," Vadovsky said. "Imagine how it could be finished for this purpose."
Michael Reiskind, an entomologist and associate professor at North Carolina State University, said giant pests can bite through two layers of clothing.
He did a test in Raleigh, the state capital, before the storm and counted three mosquitoes in five minutes. A week later, there were eight at the same time. Two weeks later, there were 50. "And our region has not been hit hardest," Reinskind told USA Today.
He added: "People should not worry too much, a big mosquito is no more dangerous than a small one. They are neither radioactive, nor genetically modified, nor some exotic species, it is exactly what happens after a hurricane.
While the state expects a cold weather to wipe out the plague for the winter, Governor Roy Cooper has ordered control efforts of $ 4 million to help counties affected by the storm.
"FEMA reimburses local agencies for mosquito spraying. So, it's possible for a county health department to do aerial spraying, but not all counties do, "said Reiskind.
The types of mosquitoes observed in North Carolina may carry West Nile virus and encephalitis, but they are not likely to spread Zika virus or malaria.
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