History UnderfootAtlanta
  • Flood
  • Water
  • 2002 flood; park opened June 2021
  • City of Atlanta
  • Location approximate

Vine City flood (2002) and Rodney Cook Sr. Park

Heavy rain in 2002 overwhelmed the combined sewers in Proctor Creek's headwaters and flooded Vine City homes with sewage. The city bought and razed about 60 properties and in 2021 opened a 16-acre park built to hold stormwater.

See it on the map All Water records

The record

WABE describes residents climbing onto tables and refrigerators to escape contaminated water, and explains that Atlanta had built sewer pipes 'right in the creek beds,' so that in places 'Proctor Creek basically became the sewer.' Rodney Cook Sr. Park, named for the politician Rodney Mims Cook Sr., opened June 29, 2021 near Mercedes-Benz Stadium on the land of about 60 flooded properties that were acquired and razed.

Today: Rodney Cook Sr. Park, a stormwater park in Vine City.