Crews working overtime to control pesky bloodsucking mosquitoes

MIAMI - It's a soggy evening yet again as rain showers drench South Florida. All the extra water leading to flooding, traffic, car problems, you name it. It's also prime time for mosquitos to thrive.

Miami-Dade County Mosquito Control has crews working around the clock treating parts of the county hit hardest by rain.  One area in Doral near NW 97th Ave & 37th Street, could almost be mistaken for a small pond.  Crews say it's standing water like that, responsible for breeding millions of mosquitos.

"When I see June is coming on the calendar, I'm like let's hope we get lucky this year or June is going to be insane," says Isik Umlu, the Operations Manager at Miami-Dade Mosquito Control. 

As stagnant rainwater lingers in parts of south Florida, calls are coming in and crews are heading out.

"They're flying and biting and laying another set of eggs," says Umlu.

"Last month the total number of services requests our division received is a little over 1100," she explains.

The numbers are climbing quickly.  In the first six days of June, Umlu says they received nearly 400 service requests. 

"Cutler Bay definitely needs special attention.  We need to keep our eye on that area," she says.

It's an area that can easily become infested with mosquitos.

"When they emerge as adults they're in like black clouds," says Umlu.

Most of the time, crews spray for mosquitos overnight.  The goal is to kill the bugs when they're in the larvae stage before they hatch.

"We do surveillance nonstop," explains Umlu.

"They like to lay their eggs in buckets, birdbaths, toys."

She says the best way for you to prevent your neighborhood from becoming a breeding ground is to get rid of any standing water in your yard.

"Any container you can name, you can find them. They would contain hundreds and hundreds of them."

If you're noticing more mosquitos in your neighborhood, you can call 311 or submit a service request here.