I’ve never called them Palmetto bugs. Who cares if they flew off a tree and into the house? They’re a menace to society!
Yes, lots of swampland in the South. Like you said, more swamp than land!
I am lucky that when I grew up, you could water ski all day and not see an alligator on a lake. Can’t do that anymore. Too many people are feeding them, so if you see one heading towards you instead of away from you, get to safety as fast as you can. These ones are coming for you, your kid, or your pet.
Yes, nothing like a 4” roach dive bombing you from a tree. Most of FL is built on clay excavated from GA. Disney was swamp land. I can only imagine how many truck loads of GA clay went into it.