The Tennessee Valley Authority is telling the public to stay off Douglas Lake near Dandridge as it prepares to deploy a 4,000-foot floating barrier to catch a one-square-mile patch of debris from Hurricane Helene's floodwaters.

A boom is a floating barrier that captures surface and submerged debris in bodies of water, the Tennessee Valley Authority said.

River-level maintenance efforts continue nearly a week after Helene impacted the region. The Tennessee Valley Authority on Thursday announced that it is deploying a 4,000-foot boom across Douglas Lake to capture debris.

The TVA said on Thursday it was deploying a boom to catch debris on Douglas Lake as it works to maintain waterways in the region after Helene. WATE Midday News on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024.

The Tennessee Valley Authority is installing a one-mile-long boom in Douglas Lake to collect debris that was washed into the lake by Helene. (Courtesy: Tennessee Valley Authority)

It’s the latest in a series of clean-up efforts by the TVA, which has also been slowly empty overly-full reservoirs to make room for any future rainfall.