Transcript:
On most days, Rodney Cook Sr. Park in Atlanta is alive with kids playing on the playground, teenagers shooting hoops, and families strolling around gardens and fountains.
But during a heavy storm, the park fills with water – exactly as it was designed to do.
Wozniak: “When there are major storms that occur … the park basically acts as a saucer.”
Jay Wozniak is with the Trust for Public Land, which helped the city create Cook Park. It’s in Vine City, a neighborhood that has long struggled with flooding, and it was built on the site of a flood that destroyed dozens of homes in 2002.
The park includes ponds, wetlands, rain gardens, and an underground cistern that together can hold more water than 13 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
When it rains, water flows in from the surrounding area through storm drains and underground pipes.
Some of it then seeps into the soil, and most is slowly released back into the city’s stormwater system.
Wozniak: “That water ends up going away in a matter of three days, and you would never know that there was a flood event that occurred in that neighborhood.”
So as climate change causes heavier rains, Cook Park helps keep the neighborhood dry while also providing a beautiful space that people can enjoy.
Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media
