An increase of mosquitos swarm Amelia Island after recent flooding

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — Standing water often increases the mosquito population.

That’s exactly what happened on Amelia Island in Nassau County following the heavy rain our area experienced earlier this month.

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“We noticed them at the beach this morning,” local Mollie Levi said.

Locals said they couldn’t stay on the Amelia Island beaches or the parks like Egans Creek for more than 5 minutes without being bitten.

“It was on our arms and our neck,” Levi said.

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“We had to cover up to keep them off of us,” local Phyllis Box said.

“Where they bit me was my ankles and legs,” local Maximilian Jean said.

Some people took their concerns to Amelia Island Mosquito Control. According to one online post, mosquito control said it was overwhelmed with calls with the increase in mosquitos due to the recent flooding. Mosquito control then referred people to email the department to request treatment of standing water.

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The Amelia Island Mosquito Control website provides several tips on how to avoid mosquitos:

• Remove standing water from boats and any other recreational items.
• Discard old tires.
• Check to make sure windows and doors have screens to keep out the mosquitoes.

We reached out to the Amelia Island Mosquito Control to answer our questions, but they turned down our request for an interview.

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