‘Starting to look a lot better’: Rain aids Mosquito fire battle, but brings flood, mudflow risk
MARY LOUISE KELLASH, HOST:
The heat with this storm won’t last long. By the time it’s gone, the mosquitoes will be back. And, you know, the big question has to be, how are they going to get out of this mess? Here’s the story.
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KELLASH: A small section of Brooklyn burned today, just a little bit south of where the Williamsburg Bridge crosses the East River. Firefighters were not able to go into the area for safety reasons, and some may have wondered if this was the start of the end of mosquito season in the city.
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KELLASH: But the National Weather Service, a branch of the federal government, says it’s going to be good for the mosquitoes.
KELLASH: The storm is going to stick around while temperatures stay in the 90s, they’re going to get their second chance to mate and mate and mate.
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KELLASH: Mosquitoes don’t make it in the heat. They just die. And when you have a dry spell like this in the summer, what you have is a lot of eggs on the windshield of a car.
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KELLASH: Which is why the National Park Service is warning drivers to check for dengue fever symptoms on any mosquito bite you might get on their windshield.
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KELLASH: If you’ve got a dengue fever alert, you’re going to want to go inside, maybe cover your windows and close the door.
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KELLASH: And, yeah, this is going to be a long summer.
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KELLASH: All right, let’s get another update from our reporters
