VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — After the fiasco of "Floatopia" brought boats, jet skiers, plenty of floats, and a lot of trash, there was a huge cleanup to manage.
Ultimately, there was ten tons of garbage left behind on the Ocean Park beach by the Chesapeake Bay.
Stephen Hobbs said he helped organize "Floatopia" for the past eight years, but this year the crowds were drastically larger.
“This year it got totally out of hand. I was outnumbered, the police were outnumbered, and I did my best as a citizen,” said Hobbs.
Hobbs said that his team was overwhelmed by the amount of people and trash they ultimately left behind.
The co-organizer said that the invite list started with 600 people, but 1700 responded on social media that they were going.
City of Virginia Beach spokesman Drew Lankford said after the cleanup process, city officials estimated far more than 1,700 people attended the event.
“You’ve got 8,000 to 9,000 people out there with nowhere near enough trashcans, and not a single porta john,” said Lankford.
“Me and my people tried to put the trash in piles as much as we could. I knew that the trash trucks were going to go down there and put it in a truck,” said Hobbs.
Hobbs said that his team cleaned until 10:00 p.m. Sunday and they had another crew set to come and finish the job on Monday morning.
When locals awoke to trash clumped in piles all the way down Ocean Park beach, they were unamused.
Lankford said it took his public works crew nearly three hours to pick up the garbage on Monday morning. He said that the city wants to work with "Floatopia" organizers to ensure a safe event in the proper location, with plenty of garbage cans in the future.
The Ocean Park Civic League is set to have an emergency meeting Thursday at 7:00 p.m. at the Ocean Park Volunteer Rescue Squad Building to have a discussion on "Floatopia."