x
Breaking News
More () »

Rivers about to crest above flood stage, washing trash downstream

Jerry Moon has lived along the Yellow River all his life, and he says he's never seen so much garbage flowing downstream, especially when the river floods.

People who live near north Georgia’s creeks and rivers are watching the flood forecasts closely.

Big Creek, for example, where it flows through north Fulton County, has, in the span of a few days, risen above its banks, then receded, and is now starting to rise again.

And other creeks and rivers are expected to rise, as well, in the next 24 to 36 hours.

Hiking trails along Big Creek that had just been under water are now under mud, but they will soon be under water again.

The same for backyards up and down Big Creek that are within its flood plain.

Big Creek is expected to crest nearly a foot and a half above flood stage by Friday morning – matching the flooding of July 4, 2015.

In Rockdale County, on a stretch of the Yellow River, the flood waters are washing trash downstream — lots of it.

The garbage is getting caught above a small dam near where Georgia Highway 20 crosses the Yellow River.

Credit: WXIA-TV
Jerry Moon, along the Yellow River in Rockdale County where he lives and grew up, on Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Jerry Moon has lived in that area all his life.  He said Wednesday he never used to see flood waters pouring all of that debris into the banks near his home.  And now he doesn’t know how to stop it all.

“When we get a lot of rain like this, there’s excess trash, debris, plastic bottles, milk jugs, coolers, everything washes in here,” Moon said.  “All the development, all the subdivisions that’s gone in the last 10 to 20 years, we get all the trash and debris, and therefore it goes on down to Lake Jackson.”

RELATED: Locals fed up with mass of floating trash that takes over Lake Jackson when it rains

The Georgia Environmental Protection Division has a program called Rivers Alive, comprised of volunteers who travel around the state cleaning up rivers and creeks, collecting tons of trash.  An EPD spokesperson said Wednesday that that stretch of the Yellow River is one they will want to put on their list.

And the forecast is for more rain, more flooding and, on the Yellow River, more trash.

Before You Leave, Check This Out