Editor’s note: The director of mosquito control (see video below) said they’ll be spraying again TOMORROW and we’ll have clear concise video for you tomorrow for sure.
UPDATE: Residents in the “spray block” said NO helicopter showed up today to spray! We’ll be calling Monday to ask the director of mosquito control as to why. We’re not sure if they received a backlash after our story that tens of thousands saw on live video on Facebook or????
You might think I’m nuts when I say that I woke up today to the sound of helicopters and thought what the heck is going on?
Then I get a call from a neighbor/friend in the town bordering me (i’m a few blocks outside her town of Holly Hill, here on the East Coast of Florida)
She’s a local chef who has her own organic cafe and also is an organic gardener (Now her garden is covered in spray)
So it was almost 8:30 AM and moms are out walking their babies in strollers before the heat of the day really picks up here in the Sunshine state. Dogs are out playing with children in the back yard, kitties running around and people exercising and jogging, folks outside getting ready to leave for their job who work 9 to 5.
I finally reached the director of Mosquito control and found out it was all true. NO warning must be sent out to the residents over a square mile area that is sprayed with pesticides while children and animals play outdoors in the morning sun. If they don’t see it posted (I had to find it buried online after he directed me to it) then they get rained down upon with pesticide.
I’m groggy by the time I reach him because *I* went outside and felt sick. I’d actually felt a sore throat coming on (rare) before I even heard they were doing aerial spraying, but by this point it’s pretty bad. So forgive that I sound out of it (and nervous on with the director here in Florida!) But I do ask if I can record and he says why not, and at the end I explain I’m going to stop the recording so he did know.
Take a listen. It might be scary to some and others might just not care. But certainly this pesticide he talks about in the video can be harmful if breathed in or if it gets on your clothing. He also said he’d never spray it while kids were at bus stops which is why he had to do it before school began and kids were out for school IN the video. Check it out.
This is all we got today, but again, we’ll have way more clear concise video for you tomorrow with interviews with residents!
Check it out below and stay safe! More video much clearer when we are all PREPARED in the morning! XO Erin
