Are chiggers a problem in Ohio lawns. How can you identify chigger bites. What are effective methods for getting rid of chiggers. How do you prevent chiggers from infesting your property.

Understanding Chiggers: Tiny Pests with a Big Impact

Chiggers, also known as berry bugs or harvest mites, are microscopic arachnids that can cause significant discomfort to humans and animals alike. These tiny creatures, closely related to ticks, are prevalent in Ohio and can quickly become a nuisance for property owners.

But what exactly are chiggers? These minuscule pests are nearly invisible to the naked eye, measuring less than 1/150th of an inch in diameter. Despite their small size, chiggers are easily identifiable by their distinctive bright reddish-orange color, setting them apart from other mites.

Chigger Habitat and Behavior

Chiggers thrive in moist, bushy areas, making Ohio’s lush landscapes an ideal environment for them. They are commonly found in:

• Grassy fields
• Along lakes and streams
• Forested areas
• Overgrown lawns

These pests are attracted to humans and animals due to the carbon dioxide we exhale, similar to mosquitoes and ticks. It’s important to note that only the larval stage of chiggers bites humans and animals, as they require a protein source to grow into adults.

Identifying Chigger Bites: Signs and Symptoms

Chigger bites can be incredibly uncomfortable and may cause confusion due to their similarity to other insect bites. How can you tell if you’ve been bitten by chiggers?

Chigger bites typically appear as:

• Itchy, red bumps
• Small, pimple-like lesions
• Blisters or small hives

These bites are most commonly found around the waist, ankles, or in areas where clothing fits tightly against the skin. Unlike some misconceptions, chiggers do not burrow under the skin or suck blood. Instead, they attach to the skin and inject saliva containing digestive enzymes that break down skin cells, which they then consume.

The Chigger Life Cycle

Understanding the chigger life cycle can help in developing effective control strategies. Chiggers go through four life stages:

1. Egg
2. Larva (the biting stage)
3. Nymph
4. Adult

Female chiggers can lay one to five eggs per day, which explains how infestations can quickly escalate if left unchecked. The entire life cycle from egg to adult can take about 50-70 days, depending on environmental conditions.

Effective Chigger Control: Professional Treatment Options

When faced with a chigger infestation, seeking professional help is often the most effective solution. Why should you consider professional chigger control services?

Professional lawn care companies offer several advantages:

• Expertise in identifying chigger infestations
• Access to high-quality, targeted insecticides
• Safe and efficient application methods
• Comprehensive treatment plans

A typical professional chigger control process involves:

1. Property inspection to confirm chigger presence
2. Application of specialized insecticides
3. Follow-up treatments to prevent reinfestation

By opting for professional services, you can quickly reclaim your outdoor spaces and enjoy them without the worry of chigger bites.

DIY Chigger Prevention: Landscaping Techniques

While professional treatments are highly effective, there are several steps homeowners can take to supplement these efforts and make their properties less attractive to chiggers. How can you modify your landscape to deter chiggers?

Consider implementing these landscaping techniques:

• Regular mowing to keep grass short
• Trimming shrubs and bushes to reduce shady areas
• Clearing leaf litter and yard debris promptly
• Maintaining a dry environment by improving drainage

These practices not only help prevent chigger infestations but also contribute to overall lawn health and aesthetics.

Personal Protection Against Chiggers

In addition to property management, personal protection is crucial when spending time outdoors in chigger-prone areas. What can you do to protect yourself from chigger bites?

• Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants tucked into socks
• Apply insect repellent containing DEET or permethrin to clothing and exposed skin
• Avoid sitting directly on the ground in grassy or wooded areas
• Shower and launder clothes immediately after outdoor activities

Long-Term Chigger Management: Ongoing Prevention Strategies

To keep chiggers at bay in the long run, a comprehensive and consistent approach is necessary. What strategies can ensure long-term chigger control?

Consider implementing these ongoing prevention measures:

• Enroll in a regular chigger control program with a professional lawn care company
• Maintain a consistent lawn care routine, including mowing and trimming
• Monitor your property for signs of chigger activity, especially during peak seasons
• Educate family members and guests about chigger prevention techniques

By combining professional treatments with diligent property maintenance and personal protection measures, you can significantly reduce the risk of chigger infestations and enjoy your outdoor spaces worry-free.

Natural Remedies for Chigger Control: Eco-Friendly Alternatives

For those seeking more natural approaches to chigger control, several eco-friendly alternatives can be effective. What are some natural methods for managing chigger populations?

Consider these natural remedies:

• Diatomaceous earth: Sprinkle this natural powder in chigger-prone areas to dehydrate and kill the mites
• Neem oil: Apply diluted neem oil to affected areas as a natural repellent
• Sulfur dust: Use food-grade sulfur powder to create a barrier against chiggers
• Essential oils: Certain oils like tea tree, eucalyptus, and citronella can repel chiggers when diluted and applied to the skin or clothing

While these natural methods can be effective, they may require more frequent application and monitoring compared to chemical treatments.

Beneficial Predators: Nature’s Chigger Control

Encouraging natural predators can also help keep chigger populations in check. What animals feed on chiggers?

• Birds, especially ground-feeding species
• Small reptiles like lizards and geckos
• Certain species of ants
• Ground beetles

Creating a wildlife-friendly environment can promote biodiversity and natural pest control in your yard.

Understanding Ohio’s Chigger Season: When Are They Most Active?

Knowing when chiggers are most active in Ohio can help you plan your outdoor activities and prevention strategies more effectively. When is chigger season in Ohio?

Chiggers are typically most active in Ohio during:

• Late spring (May-June)
• Summer (June-August)
• Early fall (September-October)

However, chigger activity can vary depending on specific weather conditions and microclimates within the state. Warm, humid weather tends to increase chigger populations and activity.

Climate Change and Chigger Populations

As Ohio’s climate continues to change, it’s important to consider how this might affect chigger populations. How might climate change impact chigger activity in the state?

• Longer warm seasons may extend the chigger active period
• Milder winters could lead to higher survival rates of overwintering chiggers
• Changes in precipitation patterns may alter suitable habitats for chiggers

Staying informed about these potential changes can help you adapt your chigger prevention strategies over time.

Chiggers and Public Health: Separating Fact from Fiction

While chiggers can cause significant discomfort, it’s important to understand their true impact on human health. What are some common misconceptions about chiggers and health risks?

Let’s dispel some myths:

• Chiggers do not transmit diseases to humans, unlike ticks or mosquitoes
• Chiggers do not burrow into the skin or lay eggs in human flesh
• Nail polish or other “suffocating” remedies are ineffective, as chiggers detach quickly after biting

Despite these facts, chigger bites can lead to secondary infections if scratched excessively, so proper care of bites is important.

Treating Chigger Bites: Relief and Recovery

If you do find yourself with chigger bites, prompt treatment can provide relief and prevent complications. How can you effectively treat chigger bites?

1. Wash the affected area with soap and water to remove any remaining chiggers
2. Apply an over-the-counter anti-itch cream or calamine lotion
3. Use oral antihistamines to reduce itching and inflammation
4. Apply a cold compress to soothe the skin
5. Avoid scratching to prevent secondary infections

In most cases, chigger bites will heal on their own within a week or two. However, if you experience severe reactions or signs of infection, consult a healthcare professional.

Community Efforts in Chigger Control: Collaborative Approaches

Effective chigger control often requires a community-wide effort, especially in areas where these pests are prevalent. How can communities work together to manage chigger populations?

Consider these collaborative approaches:

• Organize neighborhood clean-up days to remove overgrown vegetation and debris
• Share information about effective chigger control methods through community newsletters or social media
• Coordinate with local parks and recreation departments to implement chigger control in public spaces
• Form a community garden club to promote best practices in landscaping and pest management

By working together, communities can create a more inhospitable environment for chiggers across a larger area, reducing the overall population and risk of infestations.

Education and Awareness: Key to Effective Chigger Management

Raising awareness about chiggers and their control is crucial for long-term management. What are some ways to educate the community about chiggers?

• Host workshops or seminars with local pest control experts
• Distribute informational pamphlets or fact sheets about chiggers
• Include chigger prevention tips in school nature education programs
• Encourage local media to cover stories about chigger prevention during peak seasons

By increasing knowledge about chiggers, communities can empower individuals to take proactive steps in prevention and control.

Chiggers and Pets: Protecting Your Furry Friends

While we often focus on human protection from chiggers, our pets are also susceptible to these tiny pests. How can you protect your pets from chigger bites?

Consider these pet protection strategies:

• Use pet-safe insect repellents recommended by your veterinarian
• Regularly groom and inspect your pets after outdoor activities
• Keep pets on designated paths when walking in wooded or grassy areas
• Consider protective clothing for pets, such as lightweight pet shirts or boots

If you suspect your pet has been bitten by chiggers, consult with your veterinarian for appropriate treatment options.

Recognizing Chigger Bites on Pets

Identifying chigger bites on pets can be challenging due to their fur. What signs should pet owners look for?

• Excessive scratching or biting at specific areas
• Red, raised bumps on the skin, especially in areas with less fur
• Scabbing or hair loss in affected areas
• Changes in behavior, such as restlessness or irritability

Regular pet health check-ups can help catch and address chigger infestations early.

Future Developments in Chigger Control: Emerging Technologies

As pest control technology advances, new methods for managing chigger populations are emerging. What innovative approaches are being developed for chigger control?

Some promising developments include:

• Biological control agents targeting chigger larvae
• Advanced repellent formulations with longer-lasting effects
• Smart landscaping systems that create inhospitable environments for chiggers
• Precision application technologies for more targeted and efficient treatments

While many of these technologies are still in development, they offer hope for more effective and environmentally friendly chigger management in the future.

The Role of Citizen Science in Chigger Research

Citizen science projects are increasingly contributing to our understanding of chigger populations and behavior. How can Ohio residents participate in chigger research?

• Join local biodiversity monitoring programs
• Report chigger sightings and bites to university extension services
• Participate in community science projects tracking chigger activity
• Contribute to online databases documenting chigger prevalence and distribution

By engaging in citizen science, individuals can play a crucial role in advancing our knowledge of chiggers and improving control strategies.

Do You Have Chiggers Crawling in Your Grass? Here’s What To Do

In Ohio, chiggers can be a real problem, especially for property owners who are dealing with a chigger infestation. Also referred to as berry bugs and harvest mites, chiggers are similar to ticks in the sense that they are quite small and can bite people and pets. If you think chiggers are overtaking your property, there are three things you need to know: what exactly is a chigger and how you can identify them, how you can get rid of chiggers on your property, and how you can keep chiggers from coming back.

What are chiggers?

Chiggers are a close relative of ticks and are nearly microscopic. Because they are so small, they can be difficult to spot, but their distinctive bright reddish-orange color sets them apart from other mites. Chiggers bite both people and animals as a source of food. Even though they are tiny, their bites can pack a punch by causing severe itching and/or a skin rash. Chigger bites are itchy, red bumps that can look like pimples, blisters, or small hives and are typically found around the waist or ankles. Chiggers are attracted to people for the same reason that mosquitoes and ticks are attracted to us; because we produce carbon dioxide when we breathe, which attracts bugs like chiggers to want to bite us. Chiggers usually favor conditions such as moist, bushy areas to live and nest, which is why they can often be found in yards.

How do you get rid of chiggers?

The best way to get rid of chiggers from your property is to hire your local lawn care professionals to treat your lawn. They have the knowledge and the highest quality chemical treatments to safely and efficiently eliminate chiggers from your property. When a lawn care company comes out to your property, they will first do an inspection to make sure that you are dealing with a chigger infestation. Next, they will spray your lawn with a high-quality insecticide that is designed to kill them off. Once they are finished, you should be able to use your lawn without having to worry about these pests biting you, your loved ones, or your pets.

Chiggers can lay one to five eggs per day, so if you don’t act fast, they can quickly take over your lawn!

How can you prevent chiggers?

The best way to prevent chiggers in the first place is to enroll in an ongoing chigger control program that continuously offers treatments. Treating for chiggers regularly is the only way to keep them away for good. When enrolling in a chigger control program, you’ll want to make sure that the company you are working with will offer multiple treatments throughout the entirety of the chigger season. You will also want to make sure that each treatment will last until the next one is applied to ensure that there is no lapse in coverage.

There are also a few things that homeowners can do to supplement these treatments. For example, mowing your grass and trimming back shrubs and brush frequently will limit the shady, bushy areas that chiggers thrive in. Also be sure to regularly clear leaf litter from your yard as moist, dark piles of leaves are conducive to chigger activity.

Give us a call to schedule our chigger control service!

Nobody likes unwanted visitors, especially when those visitors bite! If you suspect that chiggers are overrunning your property, turn to the professionals at Free Spray Lawn Care. Our lawn care professionals will quickly and safely end the infestation so you and your loved ones can get back to enjoying your yard. We offer our chigger control service to property owners in Mansfield, Wooster, Strongsville, OH and throughout the surrounding areas. Give us a call at 419-529-5296 to schedule our chigger control service today.

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Chigger Bites (for Parents) – Humana

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What Are Chiggers?

Chiggers (also called harvest mites or red bugs) are tiny red, biting mites. Their bites aren’t painful, but do cause intense itching.

Chiggers are members of the arachnid family (the same family that includes spiders and ticks). They are smaller than a period at the end of a sentence. Most can only be seen with a magnifying glass.

Chiggers are found all over the outdoors, including in grassy fields, along lakes and streams, and in forests. It’s the baby chiggers that bite people and animals.

How Do Chigger Bites Happen?

After hatching, baby chiggers wait on plants for people or animals to pass by. When they do, the chigger attaches to them using tiny claws. Once attached, it pierces their skin and injects its saliva (spit). The spit contains digestive juices that dissolve skin cells. The chigger then eats the dissolved cells, which provide the protein it needs to grow into an adult. After a couple of days the chigger falls off, leaving a red bump on the skin.

What Are the Signs of Chigger Bites?

Chigger bites are itchy red bumps that can look like pimples, blisters, or small hives. They are usually found around the waist, ankles, or in warm skin folds. They get bigger and itchier over several days, and often appear in groups.

Chigger bites start to itch within hours of the chigger attaching to the skin. The itch stops after a few days, and the red bumps heal over 1–2 weeks.

If chigger bites happen on the penis, they can cause swelling, itching, and painful peeing. This is known as “summer penile syndrome.”

How Are Chigger Bites Diagnosed?

Doctors can diagnose chigger bites by looking at them and asking about a person’s recent outdoor activities.

How Are Chigger Bites Treated?

Unlike mosquitoes and ticks, chiggers don’t carry disease. So they are not harmful, only annoying. You can usually treat chigger bites at home:

• Scrub chigger bites well with soap and water to help remove any chiggers that are still attached to the skin.
• Holding a cool washcloth over the bites can be soothing.
• Calamine lotion or anti-itch creams can help with the itching.
• Antihistamines (allergy medicine) taken by mouth can sometimes help with itching, especially if your child has trouble sleeping at night.

Discourage kids from scratching at the bites because this can lead to:

• impetigo, a bacterial infection of the skin, with pus and crusts around the bites
• a larger area of increasing redness, swelling, pain, and warmth, called cellulitis

Keeping fingernails short can help prevent skin damage from scratching. Antibiotics may be needed if a skin infection does happen.

When Should I Call the Doctor?

Call your doctor’s office if:

• Over-the-counter creams or lotions don’t help the itching.
• A bite looks infected (watch for warmth, redness, swelling, tenderness, or pus).
• Your child has symptoms of “summer penile syndrome.”

Can Chigger Bites Be Prevented?

To help prevent chigger bites when enjoying the great outdoors:

• Apply an insect repellent with 10%–30% DEET.
• Clothes also can be treated with a specific insecticide (like permethrin) to help prevent bites.
• Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants tucked into shoes, especially during hiking. This also can help protect kids from other biting critters like ticks and mosquitoes.
• Wash kids’ skin with soap and water when they come back inside. Wash all clothes in hot water and tumble dry on high heat before they’re worn again.

Chigger bites aren’t contagious, so kids can’t catch them from someone or give them to somebody else. They can still play sports and do all normal activities unless the itching makes them too uncomfortable.

Reviewed by: Yamini Durani, MD

Date reviewed: June 2023

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“For us, it’s Pearl Harbor.

” How a city in Ohio lives after a train derailment with toxic chemicals sign up for our newsletter “Context”: it will help you figure it out in events.

Image caption,

Many residents of East Palestine, Ohio, can now only drink bottled water – tap water causes strange symptoms

For John and Lisa Hammer, residents of a small town in East Palestine in the US state of Ohio, normal life ended on February 3 at 8:55 pm. At that moment, a train loaded with toxic chemicals derailed just a few meters from the building where their thriving garbage company was located.

This report was published in English, the original can be read here .

The Hammers have been developing their business for 18 years, going from five clients to more than seven thousand.

“It completely ruined our lives,” John tells the BBC, barely holding back tears. We talk to him in the parking lot outside his company office, where the smell of chemicals still hangs in the air after the disaster.

“I’ve already decided to get out of here,” he adds. “We’re moving. We can’t do this anymore.”

After a train derailment, rescue services had to release vinyl chloride, a toxic, colorless gas, from five tanks. Otherwise, they could explode.

Image copyright Reuters

John’s eyes are red and swollen – he believes chemicals released into the air after the crash in East Palestine are to blame.

But the couple told the BBC that they suffered even more psychologically.

“I can’t sleep at all. I’ve already been to the doctor twice, now I’m taking a sedative,” says John Hammer. “It’s ten times worse than just losing a livelihood. We built this business from the very beginning.”

Just like her husband, Lisa Hammer stays up all night thinking about what will happen to the company, her ten employees – and the whole city where she has spent 20 years of her life.

• Massive explosion in Bangladesh at a clothing warehouse for the West. More than 40 dead, hundreds injured
• A million babies a year are born dead because of polluted air, scientists say
• What happens in Armyansk, Crimea, after the release of harmful chemicals – they are now also planning to leave East Palestine.

  “I’m scared for the people who live here,” she says. “I don’t know anyone who can sleep well now, because literally everything is at stake. Business, health, and the health of friends.”

  As we climb a mountain of rubbish that rises not far from the burnt wreckage of wagons, Hammer compares the train accident here to the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

  Photo credit, Reuters

  Photo caption,

  Crash site

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  We quickly, simply and clearly explain what happened, why it’s important and what’s next.

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  He’s not the only one who thinks so. In the two days we spent in East Palestine, several locals told the BBC that they saw the train derailment as a critical moment in the city’s history. For the foreseeable future at least, their lives will be defined by what happened before and after this catastrophe.

  Federal and local officials advise residents not to drink tap water, but to buy bottled water. Authorities have said it’s safe to return to the city within days of the crash, but environmental experts aren’t sure the advice can be trusted.

  Substances released into the atmosphere after the crash (vinyl chloride and butyl acrylate) are hazardous to health and, in sufficient concentration, can cause various complications – from nausea to cancer.

  “For our city, it’s Pearl Harbor, or 9/11. This will always be remembered,” says local café owner Ben Ratner.

  In the case of Ratner, what happened led to a “curious combination” of experiences and sensations. Now he visibly shudders every time he hears the sound of a passing train, although he had not noticed such things before. And he adds that now the trains seem to him louder and more annoying than in the past.

  Image copyright, Getty Images

  Image caption,

  60-year-old car wash owner Ron Rafferty says he wears a mask at work because he fears for his health

  He says that his friends in East Palestine start to panic about everything and remain constantly on guard – feelings he compares to post-traumatic stress disorder .

  “It’s time for us to think about the long-term consequences for the psyche and emotional state of people,” Ratner says. “People have become worried when trains pass nearby, when their children go outside, when they let dogs out – and they accidentally get drunk on contaminated water. It’s all very serious.”

  Local children had only recently survived the Covid-19 pandemic, and now their lives have been turned upside down by yet another trauma, he said. “This could go on for generations,” he says. “It’s not just gas or clouds of chemicals. ”

  Johns Hopkins University professor Kiv Nachman told the BBC that the substances released into the atmosphere after the crash could significantly damage people’s health.

  “There is very little information about how people came into contact with these chemicals – through air, drinking water or soil,” says the expert.

  US Environmental Protection Agency chief Michael Regan visited eastern Palestine on Thursday to see for himself how the rescue operation is progressing, meet with local officials – and reassure residents that the government is doing everything possible for them.

  “We see you, hear you and understand why you are worried,” he said.

  The agency claims that no dangerous concentrations of toxic substances have been recorded in the atmosphere, and experts have checked the air in hundreds of residential buildings.

  In addition, both Senators from Ohio, JD Vance and Sherrod Brown, sent messages of support to the city’s residents. Gov. Mike DeWine has asked the federal government for help.

  Representatives of local water networks admitted that the Ohio River was polluted, but they say that the drinking water supply system was not affected.

  The author of the photo, Reuters

  Image caption,

  Residents of the town discussed problems with representatives of the authorities at meetings many times

  The head of Norfolk Southern, which owned the crashed train, understands that people are tired of what is happening, afraid of the consequences, they “have a lot of unanswered questions.”

  But at the same time, representatives of the railway company on Wednesday refused to meet with the population of Eastern Palestine, citing security concerns. And this could not but anger the locals even more.

  Many in the city believe that no amount of words will now help to remove the mistrust and anger that has reigned in East Palestine.

  Some say that neither inspectors nor any other officials contacted them – and this is almost ten days after the crash.

  “No one came to visit us, no one asked us anything. No one checked anything. Not at all,” says Kim Hancock, who lives about a mile from the crash site.

  “How can they say it’s not dangerous here? It’s not real,” she says. “I’m not stupid. I saw a cloud of smoke pass over my house.”

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  News at 20:00 last full issue watch online

  February 16, 2023
  21:38

  Denis Davydov

  While Europe, within the framework of the tenth package of anti-Russian sanctions, calls for serious consideration of providing Ukraine with missile systems, fighter jets and helicopters, an American National Guard helicopter crashes on a busy highway in Alabama. Everyone who was inside the collapsed Black Hawk died, and the fire was extinguished for more than 5 hours. Where and why the helicopter was flying, the aviation services do not report, but they are afraid in social networks: what if they mistook it for a Chinese one and shot it down?!

  Two large-scale chemical accidents are shrouded not only in smoke from the fire, but also in mystery. But if a warehouse with plastic is just burning in Florida, then Ohio is already on the verge of an environmental disaster, which the White House does not comment on.

  The explosion was filmed from different angles, because the explosion is controlled. Dozens of cameras followed a black poisonous cloud covering for many kilometers many towns in Ohio and neighboring Pennsylvania. The authorities did not come up with anything better – they decided to set fire to tanks with chemicals that had derailed near the town of Eastern Palestine. Residents were carefully evacuated, but on the second day, as soon as the smoke cleared, the care ended – everyone was offered to return home.

  “We smelled chemicals when we were driving towards the city. I have a chemical burn on my face, a rash. The fish died in the streams, there are multi-colored oil stains on the water, the constant smell of burnt plastic. Our dog is lethargic, he constantly vomits. Terrible things are happening here “, says one of the locals.

  The train that brought so many troubles to these parts was carrying a whole periodic table: ethylene glycol ether, isobutylene, butyl acrylate, but most importantly, vinyl chloride. A colorless gas that decomposes into hydrogen chloride and phosgene when burned. Phosgene poisoned people in the First World War. Of the 150 tanks in the train, 50 derailed.

  Those who decided to set it on fire have their own truth – they were afraid of an uncontrolled explosion. Tanks could break, and pieces of metal, like shrapnel, would mutilate everything around for several kilometers. Now they cheerfully report that there are no casualties and destruction.

  “If I were there right now, I would drink water there. Yesterday, when our chief physician advised drinking only bottled water, he simply did not know the results of water tests. Today we have them,” said Mike Devine , Governor of Ohio.

  Governor giving advice from the state capital, hundreds of miles away from the crash site. For two weeks, he never appeared at the overturned tanks. The authorities pretended that nothing terrible had happened.

  “They are happy when they collect our taxes. Governments are happy to spend trillions of dollars around the world on their military operations, just leaving ordinary people. People like these poor East Palestine in Ohio,” said US politician Tulsi Gabbard.

  Residents heard the first official messages that it is better to drink bottled water only on the 10th day after the accident. “The EPA didn’t seem to be doing any water tests, and the railroad company that made it happen hired some office to do all the tests. It’s the same type of office that BP hired. Remember, 12 years ago they told us that the water in the Gulf of Mexico is in perfect order after BP’s towers with trillions of tons of oil flew into the air?!” says one of the locals.

  What happened in Ohio, how serious the damage, whether there will be compensation – a queue for answers to these questions lined up at the school gym, where the townspeople gathered. But no one came to see them. The management of the railway company sent a letter – they are afraid for the safety of their employees, so somehow without them. The only representative of power was the local mayor, who is also a local resident. “I’m just the mayor of a town of 4,700 people. If you think I can fight the railroad giants and the federal government, then you’re out of your mind. I need help. I’m not ready for this,” he said.

  The railroad company sent one check for $1,200,000 to the entire city.

  “That’s not enough! Maybe this is just the beginning. Help is needed now from different places. Many are responsible for what happened. I was told that the bearings of the train overheated. Why did they overheat? Maybe because they were not properly maintained ?! All this needs to be investigated,” said Brad Venstrup, a member of the US House of Representatives from Ohio.

  Just a month and a half ago, railroad workers complained about how companies cut staff, those who stay, lengthen shifts, and even lengthen trains, giving a damn about the safety of transportation. There were more accidents under the new Minister of Transport. Biden gave the job to Pete Buttigieg. The pride of the administration is the first openly gay minister. In his speeches, he does not even mention the disaster in Ohio. Other issues matter.

  “From generation to generation, we’ve heard too many stories about infrastructure when a neighborhood of color finally gets a project, but everyone who works on this project, doing well-paid jobs, looks like they’re not from the area” said Pete Buttigieg.

  Neither Secretary of Transportation Buttigieg nor President Biden came to Ohio and commented on the catastrophe extremely sparingly. Journalists suggested that if the tragedy with the train happened not in the United States, but in Ukraine, the American authorities would have shown greater sensitivity.