Photos by Frank Lewis

Letitia Reedy said her neighborhood of Mabert Road in Portsmouth has been overrun by worms (pictured inset).

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Frank Lewis

PDT Staff Writer

The people at the upper end of Mabert Road (2500 block) in Portsmouth are going through what can only be described as a living nightmare, and have not been able to find anyone who will help them. Worms have taken over not only their streets, steps, yards, porches, and the outside of their houses, but the inside as well.

“They are everywhere in my house,” Mary Lucas said. “They’re in the bedroom. They’re in the living room. They’re in the kitchen - every room in the house. They are all infested on these walls here. I can’t seem to control them and I’ve tried different sprays and I can’t seem to get them under control.”

Patty Schuyler said she was unable to sleep in her bed Monday night, and had to sleep in a recliner.

“At night the house is covered with them,” Schuyler said. “They’re starting to move inside the house now. I got out there last night and hosed everything down, and this morning they are all right back.”

Latisha Reedy said the worms have been covering nearly every property in her neighborhood for about two or three weeks.

“I have used bleach, bug killer, nothing works,” Reedy said. “I have been here since (19)73 and I have never seen anything like it.”

Reedy had a large container labeled “bleach,” and as she approaches a pile of the worms, the worms appeared to be dead, but one spray of the bleach and they come to life and begin to crawl all over the pavement and up the wall across from her house.

Reedy said she contacted the city and said she has been given one phone number after another, and no one has been able to help her. She said she called the City Health Department and was told they didn’t handle that kind of problem. She said she has also been in contact with the Ohio State University Extension Service in the Scioto County Courthouse who told the Times Tuesday morning that the man who might be able to help her, Brad Burgefurd, was out of the area for several days, and usually worked out of Pike County.

Jerrie Sutherland said the worms have invaded everything including her in ground pool.

“I’ve skimmed and swept and they just keep coming,” Jerrie Sutherland said. “They’re in the bathroom. The bathtub is full. They are everywhere.”

Mike Sutherland, who had just come from sharing a shower with the creatures, described the situation without mincing words.

“It’s an invasion, like an apocalypse.”

Frank Lewis may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 232, or at flewis@heartlandpublications.com