They’re here! Cicadas begin to emerge in Rockford area

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — After months of anticipation — and, for some, dread — cicadas have finally emerged in the Rockford area.

Billions of cicadas are appearing as part of a rare double emergence that hasn’t happened since Thomas Jefferson was president, 221 years ago.

Brood XIII and Brood XIX, one of which emerges every 13 years and the other every 17 years, are digging up from their decades-long slumber at the same time.

We went looking for the creatures on Wednesday.

Despite having no luck spotting the insects at both the Severson Dells Nature Center, at 8786 Montague Road, and Rock Cut State Park, at 7223 West Lane Road, it didn’t take long until we came upon one man who had stumbled upon a cicada hotspot during his daily walk.

“I just come out here to walk. I wasn’t really looking for it, but I saw it and I went, ‘well?’ I know you they got this all up and down the street now,” said Dennis McFall. “My little sister kept asking me, ‘Where are they? Where are they?’ Because everybody, like Crystal Lake and all over the western suburbs, have seen them and put them on Facebook. And we haven’t seen any of them yet. So I just saw these today.”

Severson Dells Nature Center’s Jillian Neece said cicadas are harmless and will mostly just bumble around. The biggest annoyance might come from their mating calls.

“With so many emerging at once, it can get pretty loud,” said Neece. “They’re estimating it to be about as loud as a chainsaw or a motorcycle. And it can last that long for a few hours. So that’s what we’re expecting for the next few weeks.”

After a personal encounter with some of the brood, McFall is not worried.

“I know that all they’re going to do is get eaten by lots of birds and really [get] a lot of fat birds around. But they’re certainly not in any kind of a danger,” said McFall. “And they don’t even eat. They do all they’re eating underground. The adults come out, mate, and die that’s it.”

Cicada enthusiasts can head to Severson Dells on Friday for a nighttime hike to experience the full impact of this massive swarm.

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