Mosquito Problem Persists in SC After Floods

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Columbia , S.C. (WOLO) — After historic floods hit the midlands in early October, signs of increased mosquito activity started to appear in several counties. For residents in Sumter County, a walk outside is met by an unpleasant friend. “They‘ve been the size of quarters, big monster mosquitoes,” said resident Matthew Jones. Jones said in Sumter there is an unusually high number of mosquitoes, especially for this time of year. “We‘ve been doing some house renovations and we‘ve had to have all the candles and spray and they were still biting us pretty bad,” explained Jones. Sumter County officials said the mosquito population increase is a serious problem that started to spike roughly 2 weeks after the flooding. To put it into perspective of just how bad officials say it is, vector control Director Allan Penland said prior to the floods they only had 57 calls for service concerning mosquitoes for the entire season but since early October they‘ve received more than 2000 calls. “There’s so much water lying in the county and there’s so much warm weather that it’s causing an issue,” said Penland. To help try to mitigate the problem, Penland said crews are working around the clock to spray in different areas across the county. However, until cooler weather hits the midlands, Penland said the problem will most likely persist. “We‘re going to keep having at it until populations are manageable,” said Penland. Fenland said their is a cost issue with the amount of overtime personnel are putting in to spray roughly 18 hours a day. Earlier this week, the Emergency Management Division told lawmakers they do not believe FEMA will reimburse the state for mosquito control.