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.

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.