Tennessee Valley Authority leads Douglas Lake ‘Community Day of Service'
DANDRDIGE, Tenn. (WATE) —It's been around eight months since Hurricane Helene hit East Tennessee. Now, state and federal agencies are wrapping up the Douglas Lake debris cleanup, a massive effort slated to be completed in June.
On Saturday, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) led a 'Community Day of Service' on Saturday focused on removing leftover debris that might be tough for property owners to manage.
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From clearing debris to assembling care packages for those still recovering, this isn't just about cleanup. It's about community at the Field of Dreams Activity Center and out on the shorelines of Douglas Lake. The debris had a major impact, shutting down tourism, hurting residents financially and disrupting their daily life.Now, TVA has helped to reopen the lake after cleaning nearly 390 miles of shoreline, more than 90% complete with the mission. Scott Turnbow, Vice President of Civil Projects for TVA said that if you took all the debris collected so far and put it in a football field it would be about 100 feet deep.'We all talk about this is the best thing we've ever worked on because of the way the community has come together. They supported our endeavors, and ultimately, I think they're all happy because we are friends, and friends don't let friends down,' said Turnbow.Crews have removed everything from tires and lighters to shotgun shells, refrigerators, and propane tanks. Lake cleanup Volunteer Jill Cody, lives on Douglas Lake, and was personally affected by the storm.'We had been out of town and came home to the devastation, and it was just shocking to see all of the children's toys and kitchen items and just things that you wouldn't expect to see normally. We also had a boil water kind of situation and just everything was very eerily quiet. We only heard helicopters, no boats, obviously, for a long time,' explained Cody.After tackling her own property, she is now helping neighbors who are still picking up the pieces by volunteering.'Dandridge is a really small-town feel, even though it's growing, and I think that's what I love about this community, is everybody's coming together and working together to do good things for the community,' added Cody.This is TVA's first hurricane relief project in East Tennessee, but the agency has managed to make a lasting impact.
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'This is about bringing the community together and really showing the example of how government, federal, state and local and the community can come together and transform a disaster into really a blessing,' explained Turnbow.
Thanks to volunteers, 200 care packages are being brought to those in need. There are a couple of weeks left of lake cleanup, but the project is quickly approaching the finish line.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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