Woman spends holiday battling 30-foot gushing geyser

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Rosalyn Stokes thought she would be celebrating Fourth of July fireworks Thursday. Instead, she had to deal with water works after a 30-foot-high geyser erupted in her front yard.

"I found water just gushing out of my front yard like a geyser," said Stokes. She said her first thought was who was going to foot the bill for repairs. Her son shot video of the geyser on her cellphone.

Another neighbor, Velma Jacobs, grabbed a camcorder and recorded video of the geyser, too. She said it shot up so high, it soaked a series of power lines over their street. She was worried the water and electricity wouldn't mix.

"It scared me. It really did," said Jacobs. "I didn't know what was going to happen. I said, if those lines fall, it's going to be some severe damage out there."

The lines did not fall, and Stokes said after several phone calls and a couple of hours, a DeKalb Watershed Management crew showed up and quickly handled the problem. They believe a combination of old tree roots and built up water pressure caused the geyser. They had the geyser repaired and hole filled in within an hour and a half.

Stokes was more happy to learn she would not have to pay for the repairs since the break happened on county-maintained property.

"It's on the county line, so they'll pay for it, thank God," said Stokes.

WSBTV