Georgia cops and volunteers clean up Tybee Island beach after raucous spring ... trends now
Volunteers and Tybee Island officials have spent the past two days cleaning up their beach after wild spring-breakers trashed it over the weekend leaving mounds of litter ready to float into the ocean.
On Saturday, more than 6,000 partiers crowded the small, 3-mile-long island for the annual Orange Crush event and inflicted an estimated $220,000 of costs on the community. The costs include damage and clean-up costs and can be billed to event promoters.
During the boisterous party, which is part of a tradition created by students from Savannah State University more than 30 years ago, attendees left the idyllic beach littered with trash.
A video uploaded to TikTok documented the vast amount of trash that had been strewn along Tybee Island's beach - Georgia's largest public beach.
Other wild videos from the Orange Crush showed massive brawls between attendees. Despite the shocking footage, state officials were quick to say this year's event went 'fairly well.'
Tybee Island lifeguards and some Orange Crush attendees gathered on the beach Sunday morning to begin cleaning up the beach, which was trashed during the event
The Orange Crush event inflicted an estimated $220,000-worth of costs on the small resort town of Tybee Island
Tybee Island's beach, the largest public beach in Georgia, was littered will all sorts of trash during the annual Orange Crush spring break event
In one viral video, empty beer cans and liquor bottles, as well as other debris, stretched along the sand and were washed into the ocean. Hundreds of people were along the coastline with the trash, but few seemed to be doing any cleaning.
The video elicited angry responses from some viewers as one commenter wrote: 'Wow, it's not hard to use the trashcan.'
And another person offered this stern rebuke: 'If you can't respect the beach, stay away from the beach.'
On Sunday morning, members of Tybee Island Ocean Rescue and some Orange Crush attendees gathered along the beach, where they worked together to pick up the trash left by the partiers.
But the lifeguards and the attendees had their work cut out for them and the clean-up continued into Monday.
Tybee Island Ocean Rescue posted a message to their Facebook that thanked 'everyone who helped the Ocean Rescue lifeguards pick up trash yesterday afternoon!'
According to the post, the lifeguards and volunteers removed more than ten-carts worth of trash from the shoreline.
The clean-up ended up lasting longer than anticipated, beginning Sunday morning and ending Monday
After the clean-up finished, the Tybee Island Ocean Rescue shared on Facebook that they had removed 10+ cartloads of trash from the shoreline
During the Orange Crush, the length of the beach was strewn with litter, some of which was washed into the ocean
Pictures of the clean-up were also posted, in which the lifeguards could be seen directing the operation. The photos also showed conscientious partiers stooping down in their swimsuits and putting the refuse in plastic bags.
A picture of the bags of trash heaped up in the back of an ocean rescue vehicle drove home just how much litter was on the beach.
Although initial estimates put the total cost on the community at $215,000 to $220,000, Brian West, the mayor of Tybee Island, believes that the actual cost is much more.
The estimated costs include damages and clean up.
Thanks to a recently approved piece of legislation, Georgia communities are able to hold the promoters of unpermitted events, like Orange Crush, financially liable for any costs.
Mayor West told WTOC11 that one of the promoters had already been held already been served.
'We identified one of the promoters this weekend and they have already been served. So, we’ve already taken a step towards collecting what we’ve spent,' West said.
The event occurs every year and is predominantly composed of college students
