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'Everybody's upset about it.' Cockroaches cancel trick-or-treating on Wyandotte street

Posted at 6:36 AM, Oct 31, 2022
and last updated 2022-10-31 13:47:45-04

WYANDOTTE, MI (WXYZ) — A Wyandotte neighborhood street is going to be closed Monday night because of a cockroach problem that has been ongoing in the area for months.

The city engineer sent out a letter that shut down a portion of 20th street to prevent these cockroaches from spreading to more homes.

The city says they're trying its best to take care of the problem but it could take some time to exterminate the roaches.

Lisa Labean lives right next door to the house where the cockroaches call home. You could say it's a nightmare scenario out of a horror movie.

"You lay in bed and you think something's crawling on you or something it's horrible," she said.

Lisa has photos showing hundreds of cockroaches crawling around the neighborhood.

"I've been sick because I've got almost $1,800 dollars into this and professional poisons and I'm terrified. I don't want them coming in my house," she said. "Like look at my siding. I've been having to spray every day for 2 1/2 months."

Lisa says she's watched the cockroaches scurry from her neighbor's house to hers. The problem has been going on since August 12, which was a normal garbage day until the city trash collectors stopped at a particular house.

Tom Vargo lives across the street from the home where the cockroaches are coming from.

"When the trash man threw the contents into the back of the truck he immediately noticed a bunch of movement and it was filled with roaches," he said.

So police performed a wellness check on the house and the conditions inside the home were not livable.

"I understand that the children were sitting on the couch for a wellness check and cockroaches were crawling all over them," Lisa said.

No one lives at the home now but when the homeowners moved out, they were asked to wrap their belongings and bring them outside so they could be sprayed. The family did not wrap them and the cockroaches spread everywhere.

"Everybody's upset about it," Shirley said.

City Council was made aware of the problem three weeks ago and the city is now offering to spray every yard in this neighborhood.

Trick or treating is canceled on this block however because they don't want these cockroaches hitching a ride on any Halloween costumes.

"Get ahead of it because they're all the way down the streets almost to the corner," Lisa said.

The City of Wyandotte issued the following statement:

The City of Wyandotte was made aware of a cockroach issue on the 3500 block of 20th St. As a proactive measure to prevent further roach migration, the City has determined it to be in the best interest of the citizens to close 20th Street, and the sidewalks, from Eureka to Grove on Monday, October 31, 2022, from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Barricades and signage will be placed on the street and at sidewalks at Grove, the intersections of Orchard and Pine, and at Eureka, closing the street and sidewalk to vehicles and pedestrians. It is recommended that Trick-or-Treating be discouraged in this area. There have been no reports of any roach infestation occurring outside of the immediate area.

Trick-or-Treat will go on as planned throughout the rest of the city from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Mayor DeSana stated “Although this is an unfortunate incident for the residents of this block, they, as well as all residents of Wyandotte can be reassured that the city is taking every measure legally possible to eliminate the source of this infestation including spraying of insecticide along sidewalks, the lawn area between the sidewalk and street, and along the curb line in certain areas of the street in the affected area.”