Known for many things like carnival, cruises, and the annual moon pie drop, Alabama’s port city is also known for something less exciting this year: termites.
Pest control company Orkin ranked Mobile 34th in the country for most termites. Believe it or not, the city has done better this year than it did last year when it ranked 23rd.
Mobile is the only Alabama city to make the list, according to the website, but joins many others south of the list. Miami tops termites for the third time in a row.
Orkin compiled the list by identifying which cities received the most residential and commercial termite treatments from February 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021. According to Orkin, termites and termite damage were more common over the past year due to COVID. 19 Pandemic as more people spent time at home.
Unusual weather events like record-breaking storms and hurricanes also contributed to termite growth as moisture is what they live on.
“Weather conditions have a direct impact on schools of termites,” says Glen Ramsey, an entomologist at Orkin. “Termites swarm when they’re looking for moisture and food, and with fewer dead trees in urban areas, termites move to residential areas for food and moisture.”
With that in mind, it’s no surprise that Mobile made the list due to the impact of Hurricane Sally and Hurricane Zeta in the area.
Here are the top 10 cities with the most termites, according to Orkin’s list:
- Miami
- The angel
- Tampa
- Washington, DC (two places more than last year)
- Atlanta
- West Palm Beach (one more place than last year)
- New York (three places less than last year)
- New Orleans (one more place than last year)
- Orlando (one place more than last year)
- Dallas (two places more than last year)
