South Florida study finds mosquito populations increased dramatically after Hurricane Irma. 7.3 and 8 times more mosquitoes were captured during a four-week span after Hurricane Irma in 2017 than in the same period in 2016 and 2018, respectively

More than 600 cellphone towers were inoperable. Close to 900,000 Florida Power and Light customers were left without electricity. Flooding in portions of Coconut Grove and Matheson Hammock Park reached 6 feet. And agricultural damages totaled $245 million.

Hurricane Irma dealt a devastating blow to Miami-Dade County when it struck Florida on Sept. 10, 2017. But not all the resulting impacts were to infrastructure.

In the days following the powerful cyclone, mosquito populations in Miami-Dade exploded, heightening the risk of vector-borne diseases to vulnerable residents in the midst of storm recovery efforts, according to a study by a University of Miami health geographer.

“The warmer temperatures, elevated humidity, and the nutrient enrichment of floodwaters that followed Hurricane Irma all combined to create the ideal environmental conditions for mosquitoes to breed in greater numbers,” said Imelda Moise, an associate professor of geography in the College of Arts and Sciences and the lead author of the study.

In her analysis, published in a recent article in the journal Scientific Reports, Moise and her colleagues examined mosquito abundance and species composition for the year Hurricane Irma impacted Miami-Dade (2017), comparing those figures to data from the year prior to and after the storm.

[https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-72734-z](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-72734-z)

Rain = more mosquitos.
This isn’t a hypothesis, its literally how their lifecycle works.

Mosquito populations are going to increase dramatically after ANY rain event.