Current:Home > ContactSouth Carolina sheriff: Stop calling about that 'noise in the air.' It's cicadas. -EquityExchange
South Carolina sheriff: Stop calling about that 'noise in the air.' It's cicadas.
View
Date:2025-04-14 09:43:44
Do you hear that noise? Before you call the police, check outside: it might be cicadas.
That's what one South Carolina sheriff's department said as it asked residents to stop calling related to the recent cicada activity.
In a post on social media, the Newberry County Sheriff's Office in Newberry, South Carolina said it has received several calls about a noise sounding like a siren, whine or roar.
South Carolina has annual cicadas, which appear every year as the name suggests, and starting soon, the periodical Brood XIX, which emerges every 13 years in huge numbers.
"Although to some, the noise is annoying, they pose no danger to humans or pets," the the sheriff's department's post reads. "Unfortunately it is the sounds of nature."
South Carolina will likely see both annual cicadas and the 13-year Brood XIX, one of two broods emerging in over a dozen states across the Midwest and Eastern Seaboard in the coming weeks. The two broods, Broods XIX and XIII, haven't emerged at the same time since 1803, and are not predicted to do so again after this year until 2245.
How loud can cicadas get?
You'll know when the trillions of cicadas emerging soon make their entrance, as the species is famous for the amount of noise they make.
When Brood X emerged in 2021, both journalists and citizens reported noise levels ranging from 90-100 decibels, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who also noted that cicada noise 3 feet from a heavily infested tree can approach 100 decibels.
While they are loud, the noise you hear from cicadas is unlikely to cause hearing loss. The CDC says the exposure period, duration and distance is just as important as how loud a sound is when influencing hearing loss.
For example, you can listen to a noise that is 85 decibels for 8 hours safely, 94 decibels for 1 hour safely or a noise that is 100 decibels for 15 minutes safely.
2024 double cicada broods: Check out where Broods XIII, XIX will emerge
The two cicada broods will emerge in a combined 17 states across the Southeast and Midwest, with an overlap in parts of Illinois and Iowa. They will emerge once soil eight inches underground reaches 64 degrees, expected to begin in many states in mid-May and lasting through late June.
The two broods last emerged together in 1803, when Thomas Jefferson was president.
Where is Brood XIX in South Carolina?
Brood XIX will only be found in a few Upstate South Carolina counties, and are expected to emerge in the state once conditions are right, mid-April to mid-May.
The cicadas will likely be seen in natural areas, including protected areas and parks, Eric Benson, Clemson University's extension entomologist, told the Greenville News, part of the USA TODAY Network.
"In South Carolina, the data shows that (we will see the cicadas) pretty much from Columbia up through the Upstate and into the mountains," Benson said.
veryGood! (781)
Related
- McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
- Wholesale price inflation accelerated in August from historically slow pace
- Judge blames Atlanta officials for confusion over ‘Stop Cop City’ referendum campaign
- CIA 'looking into' allegations connected to COVID-19 origins
- Arkansas State Police probe death of woman found after officer
- Taco Bell sign crushes Louisiana woman's car as she waits for food in drive-thru
- Applications for US jobless benefits tick up slightly
- China says EU probe into Chinese electric vehicle exports, subsidies is protectionist
- Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
- Supporters of effort to repeal ranked voting in Alaska violated rules, report finds
Ranking
- Questlove charts 50 years of SNL musical hits (and misses)
- What do you do if you find a lost dog or cat? Ring's new Pet Tag lets you contact owners.
- UFOs, little green men: Mexican lawmakers hear testimony on possible existence of extraterrestrials
- Bryan Kohberger, suspect in murders of 4 Idaho college students, wants cameras banned from the courtroom
- Paige Bueckers vs. Hannah Hidalgo highlights women's basketball games to watch
- When the dead don't stay buried: The grave situation at cemeteries amid climate change
- Bryan Kohberger, suspect in murders of 4 Idaho college students, wants cameras banned from the courtroom
- Defense set to begin in impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton
Recommendation
Former longtime South Carolina congressman John Spratt dies at 82
Manhunt following shooting of Iowa police officer ends with arrest in Minnesota
Paintings on pesos illustrate Argentina’s currency and inflation woes
How they got him: Escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante arrested after 2-week pursuit in Pennsylvania
Rylee Arnold Shares a Long
Afghan soldier who was arrested at US-Mexico border after fleeing Taliban is granted asylum
On the road again: Commuting makes a comeback as employers try to put pandemic in the rearview
American explorer says he thought he would die during an 11-day ordeal in a Turkish cave