Update: The first cicadas in the Chicago area have emerged! Our latest story can be found here. Our original story can be found below.
Much has been said about the historic 2024 cicada emergence - from size to timing and more - but when it comes to noise levels, it appears things could get loud. So loud that residents in at least one state are already calling 911.
Cicada noise is inevitable every year, but this year will be different as a rare emergence that hasn't been seen for centuries will hit some parts of the U.S., particularly Illinois, hard.
Trillions of red-eyed periodical cicadas started emerging from underground in parts of the U.S. this month. The broods emerging are on 13 or 17 year cycles, which haven't emerged together in more than 200 years and could both overlap in a narrow strip that includes parts of Central Illinois.
It stands to reason that with the large size of the two broods, noise levels will be heightened. But just how loud could it be?
Emerging cicadas are so loud in one South Carolina county that residents are calling the sheriff's office asking why they can hear sirens or a loud roar.
The Newberry County Sheriff's Office sent out a message on Facebook on Tuesday letting people know that the whining sound is just the male cicadas singing to attract mates after more than a decade of being dormant.
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“We have had several calls about a noise in the air that sounds like a siren, or a whine, or a roar,” the department said. “The sound is cicadas.”
Some people have even flagged down deputies to ask what the noise is all about, Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster said.
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In Illinois, signs of the emergence have already started, as many cicadas have been discovered just underground, nearing their emergence as soil temperatures warm.
According to Dr. Gene Kritsky, dean of Behavioral and Natural Sciences at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati, "there could be cicadas emerging in densities up to a million and a half per acre," with just the Northern Illinois brood, known as XIII.
The Northern Illinois Brood itself is huge, with a reputation for the "largest emergence of cicadas anywhere," according to the University of Illinois.
Although mostly harmless, the noise of the insects can be disruptive, the U of I said.
Male cicadas can reach decibels similar to a lawn mower or passing jet, and their numbers will be large, but their life cycle is short, at just four to six weeks.
"What happens is when you have this many cicadas - even if they're quieter in general than our dog day [cicadas] - all together in one place, then it can be deafening," Dana said.
Kritsky compared it to going to a rock concert.
"If you spent any time in a cicada woods where they're just screaming, and you get back in your car, you'll still hear that that vibration in your head," he said. "It's like going to a rock concert, you're back in your car and you still feel that music in your head."
In a year of full emergence, when the bugs surface, they quickly begin mating, which is often met with the noise most associate with cicadas.
“Once those cicadas are out of the ground, it’s all about romance,” Mike Raupp, Professor Emeritus of Entomology at the University of Maryland, previously said.
The good news for many is that the noise likely won't be heard late into the night.
"As long as you're not sleeping during the day, cicadas are not a problem," Dana said. "Cicadas are only going to call when the sun is out, you know, maybe into the early evening, but usually they'll just totally quiet down ... the cicadas are gonna be calling pretty loudly during the day, but once the sun goes down they're done. It's the katydids that are calling and keeping you up at night."
