The World - News from May 18, 1988

Israel set up emergency telephone hot lines and readied cropdusting planes to fly into action against a possible plague of locusts, the desert insects feared since biblical times. Officials said dark, cloud-like swarms of locusts were spotted in Egypt’s Sinai Desert, and smaller numbers were seen in Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Shifting winds would determine whether the pests would cross into Israel. “If they are not controlled, locusts can destroy all the country’s crops and orchards in a matter of days,” said Chaim Hahan, an Agriculture Ministry official working the hot line. “If the winds are right, they can travel about 130 miles per day.”