Travelers Encounter A Swarm Of Locusts On A Highway In East Kazakhstan

Most of us will remember 2016 as a terrible year, but that is nothing compared to what the countries of the former Russian federation are facing this year. The clip shows a couple driving along a highway in Eastern Kazakhstan, when they encounter a grey cloud. When they reach it, the quickly realize that it is not a dust storm, but a swarm of locusts, like from a scene in the Bible.

According to a Special News Alert from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, swarms of locusts are spreading from their traditional breeding areas in Kazakhstan into the Russian Federation, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. The locusts have caused severe localized crop damage in Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation and are reported to have laid eggs over millions of hectares of land.

If this makes you think that the end is upon us, then maybe you would like to know that this is not an unusual occurrence in the former Russian countries. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food for the Republic of Dagestan, the swarm of locusts affected 114,500 hectares of farmland, despite fumigation attempts to stop the swarms. State officials have declared a state of emergency when a massive swarm hit the area. These swarms have been happening for years, while in 2016, the higher temperatures have caused them to happen even more frequently.

So don’t worry, the end isn’t drawing near, though this summer might want to end some times soon.