‘Cicada-geddon’ causes some to report the noisy insects to law enforcement

NEWBERRY COUNTY, S.C. (WIS/Gray News) - Cicadas are beginning to appear in South Carolina, and they’re apparently so loud people are reporting the noise to law enforcement.

Cicadas make a loud buzzing noise, which is their mating call. Their collective song has been so loud that it prompted people to call the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office earlier this week and inquire about what it was, WIS reports.

“We have had several calls about a noise in the air that sounds like a siren, or a whine, or a roar. The sound is cicadas,” read a post on the sheriff’s office’s Facebook page. “Although to some, the noise is annoying, they pose no danger to humans or pets. Unfortunately it is the sounds of nature.”

Sheriff Lee Foster says a handful of calls about the cicadas came in Tuesday, and some deputies were stopped and asked about the noise by some residents.

“Biblical,” said Foster when asked to describe the sound. “Like the locust coming.”

Cicadas are louder than a police siren and a tad quieter than a jet engine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“I kind of remember back several years ago when we had them like this, but I don’t think it was still this loud as it’s been,” Foster said. “I mean, it’s just part of what we’re going through. We had a leap year, an eclipse, all these different moon phases. Now, we’ve got cicadas everywhere.”

While the insects can be found annually in South Carolina, these periodical cicadas are more rare, crawling up from underground every 13 to 17 years to sing their song.

This particular brood of cicadas is not harmful to humans and pets, and they cannot bite, according to Eric LoPresti, a University of South Carolina associate professor and entomologist. He explained it’s a harmless ecological event.

“I think people should go out there and enjoy it,” he said. “It’s really a bonanza for things like birds and rodents. There’s all this free protein.”

Those visiting Newberry County’s Lynch’s Woods Park had varying reactions to the cicadas and their noise Wednesday.

“Definitely obnoxious, but it’s pretty cool,” said Kelli Helms, who experienced the cicada swarm while on an afternoon walk. “It doesn’t happen all the time, so it’s pretty cool.”

Bryn Eagleson, who moved to Newberry a few years ago from Michigan, described the insects’ song as meditative.

“Just that sound in the background kind of puts you into a meditative state on your walk,” she said. “It’s really quite wonderful.”

The swarm of cicadas will not be here for long, though. Entomologists say it will only last two to three weeks.

“It’s going to be a pretty short-lived phenomenon, so you can put your ear plugs away soon,” LoPresti said.

The buzzing in the backyards of South Carolinians is happening in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime ecological event.

Scientists say in certain parts of the country, there will be a rare double brood emergence of cicadas, the likes of which has not been seen since the 1800s.

The next time there will be a cicada swarm like this in South Carolina will be 2037.

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