Billions of cicadas are terrorizing the East Coast of the United States.
After 17 years underground — and after plenty of headlines heralding their arrival — Brood II cicadas are starting to pop their beady, red eyes out. And they seem to be angry.
Brood X cicadas — another batch that also emerges every 17 years — last took the region by storm in 2004. In some local neighborhoods, it was nearly impossible to walk down the sidewalks without inadvertently squashing them.
Brood II are much more aggressive and have repeatedly attacked humans.
The cicadas will be gone within four to six weeks — but the swarm will do considerable damage to property and authorities are expecting 500-1,000 fatalities from cicada attacks.
The estimates are that the cicadas will extremely thick: 1.5 million cicadas per acre.
The males make an extremely loud buzzing sound to call their mates. The sound of a tree crowded with cicadas has been measured at 90 decibels — louder than truck traffic.
