LAKE WYLIE, S.C. — Officials are urging boaters to stay out of Lake Wylie until massive piles of floating debris have a chance to clear.
Flooding in Gaston County along the south fork of the Catawba River has raised the water levels in Lake Wylie and pushed floating debris downstream.
Allyson Schilb lives in a cove on the lake's South Carolina side. She watched that cove fill up with garbage Monday morning. These was so much garbage, and debris, you can almost walk across it.
"Yuck! I just can't imagine what's it's going to look like when it all gets in my cove," Schilb said.
From the shore of the lake behind her house you can see tires, hundreds of bottles and cans, pieces of Styofoam and even a TV floating in the water.
It's all pushed together by thousands of tree limbs and large logs.
"I got up this morning, and I could just see it all coming in," Schilb said.
Down at the Buster Boyd landing, boaters were only using one ramp during much of the day. The others were clogged with debris and impassable to boats.
Channel 9 was with York County sheriff's deputies as they pulled several things from the water, but there's too much debris to even put a dent in it.
Sgt. Brent Mabry patrols the lake for York County, but has never seen it this dirty.
He's concerned about a boater hitting a tire, a floating propane tank, or a tree trunk just below the surface.
"A lot of stuff that you see, it's like an iceberg. You're seeing only the very tip of it," Mabry said. Deputies did pull a propane tank from the water, along with canisters of wood sealant and other household products.
Unfortunately most of debris will sink to the bottom. However, empty bottles and cans are already washing up on the shore of the lake.
There is no plan to close boat landings on Lake Wylie, however deputies said boaters who venture out should use extreme caution.
There were few boats out on Monday afternoon. Several boaters came back in, telling Channel 9 it was disgusting out there.
WSOC
