| Updated: 7/19/2012 10:06 am |
Published: 7/18/2012 9:33 pm
|
Swarms of mosquitoes have forced some in the area off the front porch and inside.
Neighbors near Broken Arrow North Intermediate High School say there's a mosquito swamp near their homes.
"You can see they don't have a circulating pump just standing water," said Dean Riley.
On the other side of the fence: five months worth of swatting, ducking, dodging and itching. Mosquitoes have been eating away at Riley and his entire family.
"They’re getting torn up every night,” said Riley.
From the ankles up nothing is off limits.
Dean said his neighbors aren't making it any easier. The folks living next door declined the chance to talk on-camera, but Dean says this pond, in their front yard has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
"We can’t go and buy a hundred dollars worth of mosquito repellant," said Riley.
Getting rid of the bugs only scratches the surface.
"I’m over 50, so if I get bit one of the West Nile mosquitoes I’m kind of going to be in bad shape,” said Riley.
There’s a chance that it could happen.
"We’ve been dealing with it here in Tulsa County since 2002," said John Baker with the Tulsa County Health Department.
Baker said there's been a decline in West Nile since cases first popped up around 1999. Since surveying Tulsa County for mosquitoes, crews have found some areas of concern.
"Only 1-percent of the mosquito population has West Nile,” said Baker.
In the last two weeks, from Pine to about 101st South swarms have migrated east to Broken Arrow. Dean’s house sits along that path.
"I really don't know what we're going to do and they won't do anything about their pond,” said riley.
For now, he'll keep his family inside. Otherwise, he fears it'll be more than an itch he'll have to worry about.
Broken Arrow has an Action Center that responds to environmental issues.
