Bed bugs bother Dulle-Hamilton residents

Housing Authority and Dulle-Hamilton residents are battling bed bugs. /Juliette Dryer

JEFFERSON CITY, MO. -- Residents in two Jefferson City affordable housing complexes, along with the city's housing authority, are battling a major problem; bed bugs.

Sandy Meier, who has lived in Dulle Tower for over four years, said she tries to stay in her own apartment all the time to avoid bringing in bed bugs.

"If you sit down here in the lobby you've gotta be careful who you sit next to...it's just that much out of hand. There's people picking them off their skin," Meier said.

"I look under my bed, under the cushions, under my chairs, couches...I look at the walls, I look in my bed mattress, box springs, dresser..."

Meier's neighbor, Debra Hardman, said she also takes precautions to avoid getting the bugs.

"I don't pick up things from other people, I don't take in things to my apartment from other people, I try to watch where I sit...if I sit down at all...I'm even to the point where I don't even want to get on the walls in the elevators," Hardman said.

Hardman said she's lived in either Dulle or Hamilton tower since 2001 and doesn't remember an outbreak of bed bugs as bad as the current one. Hamilton Tower is also experiencing a bed bug problem.

Jefferson City Housing Authority Executive Director Allen Pollock said the two towers have had problems with bed bugs for the past couple years, with big outbreaks coming in waves.

The Housing Authority owns the two low-income apartment buildings.

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Bed bugs bother Dulle-Hamilton residents