A small town in Nevada, Elko, is suffering what can only be compared to a “Biblical plague.”

They’re facing an invasion of thousands of blood-red Mormon crickets, forcing the locals to fight back with any means at their disposal – including leaf blowers, brooms, and snow plows, according to a report.

Countless Mormon crickets descended upon Elko, a town of 20,000, The Associated Press reports.

The report starts by recounting the experience of local resident Dana Dolan, who thought she had come across a “gory crash” on Interstate 80. Yet, what seemed to be a giant blood stain turned out to be an infiltration of red crickets, some of whom are bigger than a human thumb.

She described the Mormon cricket species infiltration of her hometown as “almost” a Biblical plague. It is noted that dozens of thousands of cricket eggs started to hatch in the local soil at the end of May and the beginning of June.

They have been invading entire swaths of Northern Nevada, “causing chaos,” according to Jeff Knight, a local entomologist.

However, Elko, which is known for gold mining and is close to the state borders of Utah and Idaho, has been hit particularly hard by the red cricket swarms.

The cannibalistic bugs are reported to be leaving behind a “horrible stench” smelling like burning flesh, which forced the local human population to plug their noses.

Cricket carcasses are now found all over town, including in gyms, and the big insects stick to shoe bottoms and car tires.

Any means the Elko residents attempted to beat back the cricket invasion – such as pressure washers, snow plows, and leaf blowers – have only a temporary effect and the bugs are back in no time.

The local authorities reacted by putting up signs all over Elko County, warning drivers about the slick roads where thousands of Mormon crickets hang out, oftentimes devouring their dead brethren.

According to local legends, the red crickets were named after the Mormons when they started to destroy the crops of the Mormon settlers in Utah’s Salt Lake Valley. They were only defeated by seagulls who ate them.

Knight notes there weren’t any Mormon crickets between 2008 and 2019. He said the bugs wouldn’t disappear until mid-August at the earliest, leaving many in despair of how they will keep handling the invasion.