Strange sounds prompt calls to SC sheriff’s office, but the noisemakers won’t be arrested

Noah Feit
·2 min read

Several South Carolina residents have heard strange sounds recently, and reported it to law enforcement, according to the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office.

But no crimes are being committed and no laws are being broken because the noisemakers are cicadas, the sheriff’s office said Tuesday in a news release.

“We have had several calls about a noise in the air that sounds like a siren, or a whine, or a roar,” the sheriff’s office said in the release.

But it’s insects that appear each spring that are making the noise, according to the release.

This photo taken Tuesday, April 16, 2024, shows a Brood XIX cicada.
This photo taken Tuesday, April 16, 2024, shows a Brood XIX cicada.

Cicadas are a super family of insects that appear each spring, the sheriff’s office said. Cicadas can range from 0.75 to 2.25 inches in size, and are generally about the size of a paper clip, according to National Geographic.

The noise is actually male cicadas singing to attract a mate, and the sound can be deafening — potentially as loud as a chainsaw, according to Cicada Mania.

The sounds are magnified this year because in addition to the annual appearance of cicadas, a second large brood of the insects that have been gestating for years is also emerging, according to ABC News. This year’s double cicada event — which could include billions of the insect — has been called “Cicadageddon,” CNN reported.

The nymphs have lived underground for 13-17 years and now this time they are hatching, according to the sheriff’s office. These two broods of cicadas aren’t expected to emerge again at the same time until 2245, USA Today reported.

Cicadas have been spotted emerging near Dreher Island State Park on Lake Murray, The State previously reported.

“Although to some, the noise is annoying, they pose no danger to humans or pets,” the sheriff’s office said. “Unfortunately it is the sounds of nature.”

The EPA said not to use pesticides in an effort to stop the cicadas — “they are ineffective and can actually ward off the animals that eat cicadas,” USA Today reported.

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