Millions of insects have invaded the city of Elko in Nevada, USA. It’s about the so-called Mormon cricket that blocks roads and hospitals – and is sure to induce one or another nightmare.
– You see how they crawl and how they move all the way. It crawls in the whole body. It’s so disgusting, says Stephanie Garret who lives in Elko to the British BBC.
The insects move slowly forward like thick carpets. A hospital was allowed to bring out brooms and leaf blowers so that their patients could get to the entrance.
– At one point, we even had to hook up a tractor with a snow plow to try to sweep away the piles of crickets, says the hospital’s spokesperson Steve Burrows to the local news channel KSL.
The warts cover hundreds of hectares
The facade outside Colette Reynolds’ house was completely covered with the insects, which despite the name are not crickets but belong to the wart biting family. They do not fly but get around by walking or jumping.
– I was really, really, really scared, says Reynolds to the BBC.
Large populations of the bug have been moving through Elko and other cities in the state of Nevada in recent years. But this year the outbreak appears to be particularly large, which is believed to be due to severe drought.
– The crickets in Elko cover hundreds of hectares. The drought is probably what caused them to start hatching. Once they do, they have the upper hand, so their numbers then increase for several years and then fall off,” Jeff Knight, Nevada Department of Agriculture, told KSL.