Atlantans are facing a cockroach outbreak: 'Fear lives in my heart at all times'


No home, restaurant, or street is safe from Atlanta's rampant invaders.
Cockroaches are having a moment — nay, a takeover — in Georgia's capital city, and there's apparently no simple explanation as to why. Some experts say it's because Atlanta is having a dryer than average summer, while others say it's wetter, or that it's because of trees — in short, no one knows what's going on, Atlanta Magazine reports.
Author Gray Chapman starts with a series of horrifying anecdotes about roaches crawling through her bed and across her feet, saying that even though she has "lived in Georgia my entire life," she's "never seen anything quite like it." A resident of Decatur, just north of Atlanta, put it this way.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Chapman eventually called an exterminator, who told her it was "a big summer for roaches" because Atlanta had gotten less rain than usual. Another exterminator said it was because there was more rain, and also because roaches were getting "more active because they are looking for a mate" around August. Both weather phenomena could explain the outbreak, Chapman found, and Atlanta had seen both wetter and dryer months throughout the year. And as entomologist Brian Forschler told Atlanta Magazine, "I don't think there’s a house in Georgia that hasn't had signs of a Smokey Brown cockroach infestation in the walls at some point in time.”
Read more about this downright disgusting debacle at Atlanta Magazine.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
David Attenborough at 99: a 'radical' voice for climate action
In The Spotlight In his new film 'Ocean', TV's best-known naturalist delivers his strongest message yet
-
The Four Seasons: 'moving and funny' show stars Steve Carell and Tina Fey
The Week Recommends Netflix series follows three affluent mid-50s couples on a mini-break and the drama that ensues
-
Thunderbolts*: Florence Pugh stars in 'super-silly' yet 'terrific' film
The Week Recommends This is a Marvel movie with a difference, featuring an 'ill-matched squad of antiheroes'
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wife
speed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
-
Giant schnauzer wins top prize at Westminster show
Speed Read Monty won best in show at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club dog show
-
Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar take top Grammys
Speed Read Beyoncé took home album of the year for 'Cowboy Carter' and Kendrick Lamar's diss track 'Not Like Us' won five awards
-
The Louvre is giving 'Mona Lisa' her own room
Speed Read The world's most-visited art museum is getting a major renovation
-
Honda and Nissan in merger talks
Speed Read The companies are currently Japan's second and third-biggest automakers, respectively
-
Taylor Swift wraps up record-shattering Eras tour
Speed Read The pop star finally ended her long-running tour in Vancouver, Canada
-
Drake claims illegal boosting, defamation
Speed Read The rapper accused Universal Music of boosting Kendrick Lamar's diss track and said UMG allowed him to be falsely accused of pedophilia