Brooklyn Residents Told to Evacuate as War on Bed Bugs Begins
New York City is taking an aggressive stance on Brooklyn-based bed bugs as a coordinated attack by the bugs on Saturday led to an exponential increase of infestations and bites. New Yorkers, shocked by the attack, called for an intervention to protect the residents of the other boroughs. Both the governor of New York and the Mayor of New York City have heeded the calls for action. NYC’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) Bed Bug Eradication Group and two thousand New York Army National Guard troops are massing near Brooklyn’s border in Queens. The residents of Brooklyn have been given 24-hour notice to evacuate the borough before the siege begins. DOHMH will bring the battle to the bed bugs in room-by-room and street-by-street combat. The National Guard troops will open with an artillery barrage of insecticide canisters to fumigate the area before infantry troops and armored vehicles capture and hold buildings for DOHMH to clear. Trucks carrying several tons of diatomaceous earth, a lethal substance for bed bugs, have been spotted heading toward to staging areas in Queens. Brooklyn residents are fleeing with only the clothes on their backs, which are confiscated and burned. FEMA has warned of the humanitarian crisis unfolding, and the UN cautioned the City against human rights abuses in a rush to eliminate the invaders. New York State is investigating whether New York rats were supporting the bed bug attack through funding or training. No links have been established yet.