SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla.,None — Seminole County has been dealing with a mosquito outbreak for two weeks, and officials said it's one of the worst outbreaks in 30 years.
Resident John Nash said he was looking forward to life in Florida. He and his family moved from New York to Oviedo last month. But the mosquitoes moved in right behind him.
"There are mosquitoes there, but in Florida there seems to be 10 times that," Nash said.
Heavy October rains and unusually warm temperatures have led to an unseasonal boom in mosquitoes.
The Seminole County Mosquito Control Center has gotten 1,600 calls for help in two weeks.
So many calls have come in that employees said it jammed the phone system.
"We are doing everything we can, working overtime to give people some relief in Seminole County," said Mosquito Control Program Manager Kelly Deutsch.
Officials said they were attacking the problem from the ground and the air.
Truck foggers have hit the streets at dusk every night for the past two weeks.
This weekend, the county will spend over $15,000 for aerial spraying over the worst areas, including Geneva, Chuluota and Oviedo.
Mosquito control uses nets to count the mosquito population. On any given night in Sanford, officials said they'd catch about 25 mosquitoes. However, Thursday night, they estimated there were about 300 mosquitoes in Sanford.
"The problem will stop or slow down once the nighttime temperatures drop close to 40 degrees," said Deutsch.
That means resident will have to wait to enjoy life outdoors just a little longer.
"We look outside and say to ourselves, do we want to enjoy the nice weather that's here finally?' Maybe not, because of mosquitoes," said Nash.
Seminole County's mosquito trucks spray about 20 neighborhoods a night in the order they receive complaints.
WFTV
