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Power To Save: Keeping mosquitoes from bugging you

Heavy rain from Tropical Storm Isaias has ended and floodwaters have receded. However, there's the potential for a new problem.

NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. — Heavy rain, like some parts of our area saw this week, can lead to a mosquito population explosion.

"Mosquitoes can breed in the middle of the summer. It varies throughout the year, but in the middle of the summer, it can be as quick as five days," Brandon Ball said.

Ball is the mosquito-borne disease control program coordinator for a five-county area in central Pennsylvania.

"The most common mosquito-borne disease we deal with in Pennsylvania is West Nile Virus."

Ball tells us that the dry summer hasn't given the mosquitoes as much potential area for breeding, but the recent heavy rain has changed that.

"It just comes down to after a rain event on your property, you just want to dump water from any containers that are going to be holding water."

One of the best mosquito breeding grounds is inside of a water-filled tire.

"If you've ever tried to get water out of a tire, you know how hard it is, and you're probably going to end up getting soaked doing it."

Properly storing your old tires can help prevent water from getting in and prevent a local boom in the mosquito population.

"If you can get them under a roof, under an awning, under a tarp, now the issue with the tarp, though, is that's going to get water, too, so you got to make sure you dump the water out of the tarp," Ball said.

If you're a Northumberland County resident, there's a tire-recycling event coming up on Saturday, September 19, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Northumberland County Conservation District office in Sunbury.

"They're going to go down to a facility in Liverpool, Pennsylvania. It's called Mahantango Enterprises. My understanding is that they take the tires, and they shred them, and they make different secondary products."

Only passenger tires from Northumberland County residents will be accepted. It will cost $1 per tire that you're dropping off. This will be a drive-thru event, and masks are required. Pre-registration is also required. You can do that by emailing Brandon Ball.

"The whole process should only take a few minutes, and then you can give yourself a pat on the back and feel good about helping public health and the environment," Ball added.

You're asked to clean any debris out of your tires because dirty ones will not be accepted.

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