Jordan’s Agriculture Ministry has declared the “utmost state of emergency”, as massive locust swarms are on the move in the southern, central and northern regions of Saudi Arabia, especially the city of Hail, which is about 300 miles away from the Jordan-Saudi border reports Roya News.

Amman’s Minister of Agriculture, Ibrahim Shahadeh said that locust swarms are coming from Yemen to Saudi Arabia and possibly Jordan. Shahadeh could be referring to the massive swarms of locusts that have descended upon farms and other rural areas of Saudi Arabia as well as Yemen over the past few days.  This comes on the heels of countries in East Africa who have suffered the largest outbreak of locusts in decades.

The Hashemite Kingdom has also set up an emergency room to combat locust swarms that may enter the country. The emergency room included the Royal Air Force, the Civil Defense Directorate (CDD), the Royal Badia Forces, the Jordan Customs as well as the Aqaba Region Authority.

The Ministry is also closely tracking the periodic publications released by the Locust Forecast Center of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as well as on wind direction, in coordination and constant contact with locust control centers in the surrounding countries.