LABELLE, Texas — Just south of Beaumont, there's a hidden price people pay for living on the bayou. Leftover flood waters provide the perfect place for mosquitoes to hatch, and folks in LaBelle say they're no stranger to the pests.
"Sometimes they're bigger than a quarter literally that's why we call then swamp turkeys out here," explained Beverly Northern.
She's no stranger to the bug battle. "It was horrible you could hardly get out of your vehicle and when you did it was like whoosh straight to your legs."
Jefferson County Mosquito Control has mounted a massive spraying effort.
"Absolutely it was not unexpected," director Kevin Sexton said with a smile. He's dispatched planes and trucks to spray. The planes focus on rural areas. Crews in trucks are spraying storm sewers and drains, hoping to kill the mosquitoes before they hatch.
"When we spray, there's no residual, so it has to hit the mosquito to kill it. These are mainly nuisance mosquitoes. I guess they're capable of carrying disease but they're mainly nuisance mosquitoes we're dealing with here," Sexton said.
And what a nuisance they are. They're humongous in LaBelle, but the county stresses they're working on it.
"Please be patient. We know that we have a problem out there, and we are on top of it,' Sexton said. He says the best thing you can do to help them out is change out any water you have in your yard from things like flower pots and dog bowls.