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Cassie Vadovsky returned home after taking her 4 year old daughter to school Tuesday night and was greeted by a swarm of bloodthirsty mosquitoes.
Not just mosquitoes. Aggressive and monstrous pests with stripes on the legs.
"It was like a gust of snow – like it snowed mosquitoes," said the mother at the home of two children. "I think my car stirred them. I waited until they calmed down before catching the children and they entered the house.
Vadovsky is one of many people in North Carolina who is battling an epidemic of monster monsters as a result of floods caused by Hurricane Florence.
"He did not touch automatically. It was more progressive. It may have been three or four days after the storm before reaching this epidemic level, "Vadovsky said. "And I'm not even on the side of the city that has had the big floods. Imagine how it could be finished for this purpose.
Mosquito experts say floodwaters can cause eggs to hatch for more than a year, sending billions of vicious parasites into the air.
Those who afflict the Carolinas are called "Gallinippers" or "Psorophora ciliata", according to entomologist Michael Waldvogel of North Carolina State University (NCSU). This species can be three times larger than the average mosquito and the larvae feed on aquatic animals as big as tadpoles. Females grow up to feed on large mammals, including humans.
"There are 61 species of mosquitoes in North Carolina and of these, 15 to 20 would probably be very susceptible to flooding," said Michael Reiskind, Associate Professor in the Entomology and Phytopathology Department at NCSU. "When you have a major flood, a lot of these eggs hatch and you can see a rapid population growth."
Just how much growth?
Reiskind investigated an area of Raleigh, the state capital, during the time of Hurricane Florence, to monitor mosquito populations.
"Before the storm, I went out for five minutes and counted only three mosquitoes at that time. A week after the storm, in those 5 minutes, I had eight. Then, after two weeks, (I counted 50) at that time, our area was not the hardest hit, "said Reinskind.
Vadovsky has posted a video on Facebook of the swarm around her home, generating over 76,000 views and counting. In the video, we can hear her daughter asking, "Why are you doing this – taking pictures of the wasps?" To which Vadovsky replies, "These are not wasps. They are mosquitoes.
"O my word. Lord, help us. These morons will eat us alive, "said North Carolina Pennie Thomas. "They bit me in my shoe here in Fayetteville. Taken early in football, my son's house because the land was covered, "commented Tristan Ortiz.
Reiskind, an entomologist, said large species could cross one or two layers of cotton "quite easily".
Vadovsky said the bloodsuckers were resting in large numbers on the windows outside his family's house, waiting to attack. When she or a parent comes out, the mosquitoes swarm. "They are more than just annoying," she said.
"A female mosquito just wants to make eggs, and there is only one way to do it, by taking blood," said Reiskind.
So what is the good news?
Most species of mosquitoes do not go well once the weather is cold and experts suspect that this current plague will disappear in the coming weeks.
So far, Reiskind suggests that people in storm-ravaged areas wear long sleeves and spray insecticides.
As a result of the mosquito epidemic, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper ordered $ 4 million in control efforts to help countries affected by Hurricane Florence.
"FEMA reimburses local agencies for mosquito spraying. It is therefore possible for a county health department to carry out an aerial spraying, but not all counties do so, "said Reiskind.
If your region does not spray, experts say Mosquito Dunks, donut-shaped products that attack mosquitoes during their development, can help stop the spread of mosquitoes. They can be found at local hardware stores.
"These small disks of freeze-dried bacteria dissipate into the water and inhibit the mosquito's reproductive cycle.This is not an insecticide.It's a more natural solution that really works," said Rachel Noble, professor at the Institute of Marine Sciences of the UNC.
Although it is known that mosquitoes carry diseases such as Zika and malaria, Noble said the North Carolinians have the upper hand, as these diseases tend to manifest themselves in more densely populated areas. She warned, however, that mosquito species living in the Carolinas are able to carry West Nile and encephalitis.
"People do not have to worry too much, a big mosquito is no more dangerous than a small one," said Reiskind, "they're not radioactive, genetically modified or some alien species, that's what happens after a hurricane."
Follow Dalvin Brown on Twitter: @Dalvin_Brown
Copyright 2017 USATODAY.com
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