Gareth Davies said his team used specialist equipment to vacuum up “hundreds of thousands” of cockroaches from the four-bedroom property in Pontypridd, south Wales, the BBC reported.
When Davies and his team entered the house, they found cockroaches packed inside refrigerator seals. As treatment began, more insects dropped from conduit pipes and emerged from electrical sockets, toasters and microwave ovens.
“It was like something out of a Stephen King film,” Davies said.
He described the property, which had been occupied by student nurses, as “absolutely horrendous.” The infestation was discovered after residents in neighboring homes reported seeing cockroaches.
Davies said his company had handled hundreds of cockroach infestations over the past 12 months, compared with only a handful each year five years ago. He believes warmer weather may be contributing to the increase.
“We’ve had a lot of weeks exceeding 30 degrees,” he said. “Cockroaches thrive in the heat. They develop a lot quicker, so their breeding cycle speeds up drastically.”
Davies said cockroaches were also frequently found in places such as restaurants and parts of the transport industry and could easily be carried from one location to another in suitcases and bags.
To keep cockroaches out of homes, one of the most effective approaches is to eliminate their access to food, water and hiding places while using targeted pest-control treatments when necessary, according to Southern Living.