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How to Deal With Floating Fire Ants After Flooding

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When heavy rain or storm surge floods a South Florida yard, fire ants don't drown. The colony links together into a floating mat, with the queen and young protected in the middle, and rides the water until it reaches something dry. That can be a fence, a tree trunk, a pool deck, a parked car or your front steps. Here's how to handle floating fire ants safely, and what to do about the new mounds that pop up once the water goes down.

What a Fire Ant Raft Looks Like

A raft is a reddish-brown patch on the water's surface, often the size of a dinner plate or bigger, that seems to move as one piece. You'll usually see them along the edges of flooded yards, drainage swales, canal banks and low spots by the street. Rafts also pile up against anything that sticks out of the water, which is why people get stung reaching for a hose, a trash can or a child's toy after a storm.

Not sure what you're looking at? Our red imported fire ant guide shows what the workers look like up close.

Staying Safe Around Floodwater Ants

Don't touch or wade through a raft. The ants grab on and sting the moment they reach skin or clothing.
Wear long sleeves, rubber boots and gloves when you clean up debris, and tuck pants into boots.
Check before you grab. Look at the handles of tools, buckets, lawn furniture and debris piles before picking them up.
Keep kids and pets inside until the water drops and you've looked over the yard.
If ants get on you, brush them off fast. Water alone won't wash them off; they hold on.
Watch for allergic reactions. Anyone with trouble breathing, swelling of the face or throat, or dizziness after stings needs emergency medical care right away.

Breaking Up a Floating Raft

The ants stay afloat because their bodies trap a thin layer of air. A spray of water mixed with a little dish soap breaks that surface tension, and the raft sinks. Use a pump sprayer or a hose-end sprayer from a safe distance, never by hand. Don't use gasoline or other fuels on the water. It's dangerous and it pollutes the floodwater that drains into canals.

After the Water Goes Down: New Mounds Near the Home

Once a raft reaches dry ground, the colony digs in fast. Over the next days and weeks you may see fresh, fluffy mounds in places you never had them: along the foundation, against the A/C pad, at the edge of the driveway, beside walkways and around the pool cage. These new colonies are often closest to the doors and patios your family uses most.

Signs to look for:

Loose, crumbly soil mounds with no obvious opening on top
Mounds against slabs, pavers and the base of walls
Ants trailing along the foundation or in through door thresholds
Stings while cleaning up storm debris

How Pro-Spray Handles Fire Ants After a Flood

We start with a free inspection to find the active mounds and figure out where ants are getting close to the house. Then we treat:

Mound treatment near the home: targeted treatment of fire ant mounds around the foundation, patios, walkways, driveways and play areas.
Yard treatment for ants around the home: a perimeter treatment of the yard areas next to the house, aimed at keeping ants from moving in toward doors, slabs and pool decks.
Entry points: door thresholds, weep holes, utility penetrations and other spots where ants come inside.

This is pest control for ants around your home, not lawn or turf care. We don't fertilize, treat grass diseases or do plant treatments.

Ants are covered under our general pest control service, and a quarterly plan keeps protection in place through storm season. Our Bug Free Guarantee backs every visit: if pests come back between visits, so do we, at no extra cost.

Get Help With Fire Ants

Pro-Spray is a family-run, Licensed & Insured pest control company serving homes across Broward, Miami-Dade and southern Palm Beach counties.

$50 off your first service + a FREE inspection (no code, no expiration)
No contracts, no cancellation fees, just a simple service agreement
Bug Free Guarantee: If pests come back between visits, so do we, at no extra cost.
Ask about quarterly service

Call or Text 833-845-9284 | Contact us | FL License JB 258079

Find ant control near you: Hollywood · Pembroke Pines · Davie · Miramar · Weston · Fort Lauderdale

Frequently Asked Questions

Do fire ants really float?

Yes. A colony can link together into a raft and stay on the water's surface for a long time, then settle wherever it reaches dry land.

Should I spray a raft with pesticide?

No. Don't put pesticides into floodwater. Soapy water from a safe distance is the safer way to break up a raft, and treatment can wait until the ants have settled on dry ground.

Why do I suddenly have mounds by my front door?

Flooding pushes colonies to higher ground, and the slab, walkway and foundation are often the highest, driest spots in the yard.

Do you treat my whole lawn?

No. We treat fire ant mounds near the home and do yard treatments for ants around the home. We don't provide lawn or turf care.

Pests don't wait.
Protect your home today.

Get $50 OFF your first pest service and a FREE inspection & estimate. Ongoing protection is $125 quarterly (about $42/month), with no contracts and no cancellation fees.