The floods and pooling water create perfect conditions for mosquitos to breed, causing a possible increase in the population.

Lyric Bartholomay, assistant professor of entomology with a specialization in medical entomology, said that mosquitos have an aquatic stage of life and flourish in damp environments. The insects lay eggs in standing water where they grow from the larvae to the pupa stage. Bartholomay said, however, that the eggs the laid in the water prior to the floods likely have washed away.

The standing flood water will create the perfect breeding ground for mosquitos, and in two or three weeks, the city could experience an influx of the pests, as evidenced by heavy rainfall in 2008, Bartholomay said.

In addition to the pools, mosquitos tend to lay eggs in saturated ground.

In order to slightly quell the potential increase in mosquito population, Bartholomay suggested that residents remove water from any containers that may have been filled with rain water.