Horrified locals call 911 as insects terrorize US - and there's more to come ... trends now
As cicadas worm their way up through soil across the U.S., residents from a county in South Carolina began calling the police off the hook to report hearing a 'noise in the air that sounds like a siren, or a whine, or a roar.'
Presumably to stop the flood of 911 calls, the Newberry County Sheriff's Office posted on Facebook Tuesday to tell people the sounds they were hearing - which can sometimes be as loud as jet engines - were just male cicadas singing to attract mates after decade of dormancy beneath the ground.
'Although to some, the noise is annoying, they pose no danger to humans or pets. Unfortunately it is the sounds of nature,' the post read.
This year, two broods of cicadas are emerging, perhaps to the dismay of Americans creeped out by the sizable insects with bulging orange eyes.
Brood XIX, which comes out every 13 years, will emerge primarily in Georgia and the southeastern U.S. Brood XIII, emerging every 17 years, will appear in Illinois with a heavy concentration around Chicago.
Areas where cicada broods are expected to pop up. Source: University of Connecticut
A periodical cicada nymph is seen in Macon, Georgia, on Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Pictured: The same cicada nymph on a person's two fingers
Cicadas across the Southeast and Midwest will be arriving in the trillions, according to the University of Connecticut
A cicada walks through the grass on May 21, 2021, as Brood X or Brood 10 cicadas have begun emerging from the earth after 17 years, in Bloomington, Indiana
CBS News reported that cicadas are already burrowing up to the surface in southern states, like
