Horde Of Cockroaches Invade Philadelphia Neighborhood
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Residents of a Bridesburg neighborhood are breathing easier now that they've beaten back an invasion of insects.
It sounds like a science fiction movie, but this was real.
No one knows what prompted a horde of cockroaches to start rising from from their subterranean lair beneath Salmon and Plum Streets.
First sighting was Sunday night and by Tuesday, Pat Wall says were cockroaches were poring out of a manhole.
"They just kept coming out and coming out and flying at us and walking on the walls and all over the vehicles and everything," she said.
Far too many for a roach motel to handle, so neighbors frantically fought back and called 311.
"There were people who were spraying the fronts of their properties and stomping in the street trying to kill them and all," Wall said.
Wall says they held off the invaders until a Water Department crew arrived.
"When they came out, the one neighbor said she looked down and said it looked millions of them down there. And they were alive," explained Wall.
Water Department spokesman John DiGiulio says the crew cleaned, vacuumed, and treated the sewer line with insecticide.
"Rain carries trash into the inlets and that's an excellent food source for roaches. So the cleaner they are, the less likely you are to see a problem like that," DiGiulio explained.