Berkeley Lake held a Fourth of July event early on Friday night and the scenery was part of the celebration, as residents were thankful to have fireworks light up their lake, which was damaged in the 2009 floods.
"It was a mud pool for like four years so it's great to have it back," said Kim Berry, a 15-year Berkeley Lake resident.
After significant flooding six years ago, the dam at Berkeley Lake was compromised and required nearly $4 million to repair it. The lake was drained and looked like a pile of mud for years. Following three years of back and forth talks with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which agreed to pay 75 percent of the rebuilding costs.
"It caused for challenges for us and it took us a few years to recover from," said Steve Seitz.
This year, residents of the tucked-away Gwinnett County city can celebrate their second Independence Day over a full lake.
When the dam was rebuilt, safeguards were installed to prevent flooding in the future.
The Latest
