RUSHFORD, Minn. – In addition to damaged homes and muck-covered belongings, residents and volunteers in the flood-ravaged town of Rushford are facing a new problem — wasps.
The situation is so bad that 3,000 wasp traps were donated. So many people have been stung that two nurses are on hand at Rushford's command center. The Mayo Clinic in Rochester has been sending a steady supply of Benadryl and EpiPens, for severe allergic reactions.
Residents say the wasps are making recovery more difficult.
Jeff Copley of Reliable Pest Management says the wasps were likely displaced from their underground nests the floodwaters.
One nest can hold hundreds of thousands of wasps. And wasps can sting many times, unlike bees, which die after stinging.
The flood also brought about more mosquitoes. Officials have been battling the mosquitoes too, but they want a few nights of below-freezing temperatures to kill them off.
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