Officials urge residents to clean off standing water from storm

As parts of Delmarva continues to clean up from the heavy rain, Delaware officials are reminding folks the importance getting rid of standing water.

One of the reasons include avoiding contact with mosquitoes.

The Asian Tiger mosquito species is common in urban and suburban areas in Delaware.

According to DNREC, they can breed in standing water found in toys left outside or rain gutters, for example.

Bill Meredith, environmental administrator of the Delaware Mosquito Control Section of DNREC, says female mosquitoes can lay several hundred eggs on the walls of water-filled containers. Eggs stick to containers and stay there until they are scrubbed off.

When water covers the eggs, they hatch and become adults in about a week.

“Just use their common sense, look around their backyard. Think of all areas where water might accumulate after all this rain. Do what they can to get rid of it. If you got clogged rain gutters, unclog them,” explains Meredith.

While the Aedes Aegypti is most commonly linked to the Zika virus, we’re told it’s possible for the Asian Tiger species to also transfer the virus.