LINCOLN PARK — Billie Vargas lost everything in the flood that followed Hurricane Irene. When the waters receded, Vargas started to clean her Lincoln Park home, but then the waters rose again. For more than a week her home remained flooded, a moldy, mildewy, fetid swamp.

The smell was almost unbearable, but so were the mosquitoes that had taken up residence in the Vargas home and were using it as a breeding ground.

"Mosquitoes are everywhere," Vargas said. "They are atrocious."

Vargas pointed to a few fresh bites and swatted at the mosquitoes hovering in front of her face.

The pesky problem has plagued much of the state. A late-summer flood always causes an uptick in mosquitoes, and while communities near the Passaic River are probably used to it, this year’s flooding was so extensive that pools of stagnant water were in places not accustomed to dealing with the bloodsuckers.

"They are in more isolated locations," said Kris McMorland, superintendent of the Morris County Mosquito Extermination Commission. "The thing about this storm is that it flooded everybody out, everything got soaked."

Ken Otrinski, Manville’s emergency management director, said his command center was overrun the week after the hurricane.

"We were swatting mosquitoes left and right," Otrinski said. "It was unbelievable."

In response, county officials are out spraying, trying to hold back the problem where they can.

In Morris, truck-mounted and all terrain vehicle-mounted spraying was conducted in several communities including Denville, Lincoln Park, Pequannock, Montville, Hanover, Florham Park, Roxbury, Parsippany, Morris Plains and Wharton.

"It’s insanity at its finest," McMorland said. "Mosquitoes are everywhere — top to bottom, left to right. Our crews are working hard, doing their best to try and ease the problem."

Northern New Jersey received more than 17 inches of rain last month, leading to standing water in areas where it hasn’t been before and a perceptible increase in the number of mosquitoes.

"Tremendous numbers. It’s really a challenge," said Deepak Matadha, entomologist for the Middlesex County Mosquito Extermination Commission.

While Culex mosquitoes, commonly found in stagnant water, often start looking for winter shelter about this time of year, floodwater species, including Aedes and Psorophora mosquitoes, are still laying eggs.

"We might see more broods emerging," Matadha said. Eggs may also survive through the winter and hatch next spring.

Scores of complaints have come in.

"People can’t go outside in their backyards," Matadha said.

"The phone keeps ringing," said John Kranz, the Middlesex County mosquito commission’s executive director.

In Union County, the flooding and deluge of rain washed away much of the work done by the county’s mosquito-control bureau. Workers are now returning to waterlogged areas to spray, according to Freeholder Christopher Hudak, who said he has taken a particular interest in mosquito control.

"When you have over 20 inches of rain in a short period of time, it effectively washed away all the spraying that had been done," Hudak said.

But spraying alone won’t subdue the resurgence of the insects, he said. Homeowners should try to rid their property of any standing water, which can collect in things as mundane as children’s toys, flowerpots and gutters.

"Mosquitoes don’t need a whole lot of water to breed in," Hudak said.

Matadha and McMorland also recommend emptying kiddie pools and bird baths, clearing street drains of leaves and other debris and using insect repellent when outside.

"We will continue to try and get the mosquitoes under control before they emerge as adults," McMorland said. "But this weather is making our job extremely difficult."

By Tom Haydon and Dan Goldberg/The Star-Ledger

Staff writers Ryan Hutchins and Eugene Paik contributed to this report.